Jenova High: Whispered Truths (As Day Fades & darkest_fate)

[As Day Fades]

Eight Fifty-Two.

It was Saturday. ...Saturdays were pointless. Well they had a point, but not in the way teenagers spent them. Saturdays were to be another day of doing - of study, of research. Of experimentation. Even if your field was not science, it was another day to devote oneself to betterment. To your cause! Not to hot dogs and movies. But whatever. The world needs its fools.

Hojo looked at the time. Official notices had been given to four different students last night - he'd double-checked on that - which was plenty of time. Since then everything in the lab had been double- and triple-checked, and sterilized again, not that it needed it. But it was all ready to go. As far as the SeeD students were concerned, they were four of the best; the brightest, strongest and most attractive that the Garden had to offer, whether they knew it or not, which led to each being cherry-picked for this special project.

Normally Professor Hojo's works at the Garden, a place named Jenova High, were largely kept under wraps. Whispered rumors and brief glances through a window as they passed by were the extent of what most people knew of the specifics; though he was head of the Garden's Science Department, people were generally only admitted into his lab on a need-to-be basis, other than the Headmaster and he himself.

The room was wide, and long, similar to a gymnasium, except its cool whites and stainless steels hardly spoke of this as a place of athleticism. It was separated into several open areas. On one half, the half closer to the double doors where you came in, there were several rows of tables set up. Most were adorned with beakers and tubes, open books and simmering flames. One looked like an examination table, white leather straps and a clean scalpel laid out on its otherwise sterile top. The other half of the room was a large open floor, curious in that there was nothing to it except some markings making a large square all along its edge. To the far wall of the room were numerous chalkboards and computers set up at desks. The immediate wall when you first walked in had several large clear pods in tandem, large enough for a human, looking like some eerie futuristic form of an old style phone booth in a way, curved white bench to sit on and everything, though there was nothing else in the open pods other than that. Finally on one side of the room a hallway led off, though without going, who really knew where.

Hojo checked the time again. Eight Fifty-Three. The four girls were due at Nine. "Hmm," he breathed to himself, flipping through sheets on his clipboard. On it were contained profiles of each of the students as well as data on several of his planned projects. Excess time like this was irritable. It only led to reconsidering which test subject and experiment he wanted to go with first.

 

[darkest_fate]

"I don't wanna be herrrre, it's Saturday," whined the blonde, practically stamping her feet against the ground. Each movement caused her long, orange scarf to bob about her, caused the tightly braided yellow hair to clink and clank against one another, the various baubles that had been woven in knocking against one another. Rikku may have been a SEEd, one of the school's elite fighting force, specifically trained to fight against the worst of odds, she may have been a thief who'd gone on more daring missions than even some of the most battle-hardened veterans, and she may have been skilled enough in combat to be worrisome to most monsters, but she was still very much a teenage girl.

Of course, most people looking would think that was all there was to her. Cute little blonde Rikku could not look more teenage girl if she wore a sign around her neck that proclaimed her to be one. From the top of her golden hair to the swirling green eyes to the cute little shoes she wore on her feet, Rikku looked every inch the teenage girl. She had the perfect slim build, the bouncy... disposition ,and the firm, young breasts of a teenage girl as well. As required, she wore the school uniform, though like the rest of SEEd, she'd heavily modified hers. This meant a lot of warm colors, particularly yellow and orange, a pair of fingerless gloves, and a top so low that you could see her perky cleavage all too well.

She'd actually gotten to the school last, the other requested SEEds having beaten her there. From the looks of it, Selphie had been waiting hours. The other girl was all smiles and cheers, actually handing out coffees to the other girls, extending one even to the whining Rikku. Her cute brown hair stuck out at an odd angle, but it framed a face that almost screamed the classmate down the hall you didn't want to know you had a crush on. Like Rikku, she favored warm colors, specifically yellow. She was thinner than the other girl though, which was saying something, and her breasts were about two sizes smaller, practically nonexistant. Some, including Rikku from time to time, would tease Selphie about having the body of a preteen boy. That didn't make her any less a teenage girl, of course, but it did give her something of an inferiority complex.

Though next to Tifa, nearly any girl would have a complex. Someone had blessed Tifa with an abundance of breasts, and no matter what she did, the eyes always went straight toward them. The rest of her was rock hard, lean and tough, thanks to hours upon hours of hard, physical training. This did help her breasts remain almost unnaturally perky, not to mention firm. Genetics had provided her with a near perfect hourglass figure though, not to mention thick, black hair that she wore in a loose ponytail that bobbed about her waist. She usually tried to be friendly and all, but she still seemed fairly consistently distracted. Pretty well everyone knew the reason why, but mentioning it would just get a waved off hand; pressing would result in a punch, and Tifa punched hard enough to bend steel, her own personal little trick. The most physical of the group by far, Tifa could and had wrestled monsters to the ground and beaten them to a pulp. None of the other girls had ever beaten her, though the last had come close.

Yuna had taken a bag from her cousin Rikku and ducked behind a dumpster to change. the others, used to this, had sighed and formed something of a wall, though Rikku continued whining throughout most of it. Yuna didn't look it, but she had more power than most of the rest of her companions. She had the genetic disposition toward dealing with the various elemental beings that inhabited their world, and was said to even be able to control them. Were that not enough, she'd learned how to dual-wield a set of pistols with remarkable efficacy. To top this off, she had probably the softest, curviest body of the group, though her bust didn't come near to topping Tifa's own. Her legs matched the brawler's though, only where Tifa's were all hard muscle, Yuna's had a softness. Her plump rear had just the right amount of firmness too, and her hips had the gentle curve of womanhood. She looked sweet and innocent, though the outfit she walked out with didn't seem to quite match. The girl smiled nervously as she reached up to adjust a braided tail that hung down from her light brown, feathery hair. Her heterochromatic eyes looked at the others.

"Are we ready now?" she asked, nerves leaking into her soft voice.
"You might wanna tuck in your thong there," replied Tifa with a smirk, pointing. Yuna flushed and worked to do precisely that. "You really shouldn't wear the sexy underwear if you don't know how."
"Well, Rikku brought it and--"
"And would you wear anything that Rikku brought?" countered Tifa, raising her brows.
"Probably," chirped Rikku, giggling.
It was left to Selphie to try and shepherd the other girls inside.

Soon all four entered, looking around the room, trying to figure out why Hojo had called them there. Yeah, they were all SEEd, but they were an odd mix. Yuna and Tifa might be considered a few of the more powerful members, but Selphie ranked dangerously near the bottom, and Rikku somewhere in the middle. Their bodies differed as well, with the overlapping similarities seemingly outmatched by differences. As near as they could tell, the only connecting factors were their age, sex, and involvement in SEEd.

"Hojo probably just feels lonely or something," suggested Rikku, giggling. "he wants a few pretty girls to make his lab look all bright and shiny."
"Them, um, why did he call SEEd?" Yuna wondered .she folded her arms behind her back and held back, looking around nervously. "This place is kind of unnerving, isn't it?"
"It's not that bad," said Tifa, sauntering forward. "Not like we haven't been in worse situations."
"exactly," said Selphie, nodding.
"Yeah, but those worse situations weren't really this close to the school, and they didn't involve..." began Yuna. Rikku had shot forward though, causing them all to look that direction.

"There's pods here or something!" she called, stretching up on her toes to look inside. "Maybe he wants to try and flash-freeze a buncha teenage girls?" she giggled at the thought.

Yuna still didn't move, not until Selphie got behind her and started pushing. By the time Yuna got to the tubes, Rikku had started poking around to see if she could open one, while Tifa tapped another. Selphie left Yuna to investigate on her own, while all four couldn't help but wonder just what these were and, again, why Hojo had asked for the four of them to come there today, on a day off, no less.

 

[As Day Fades]

Chirping female voices announced the quartet before a visual could, with them having to pass by several rows of stainless steel tables with their complex gadgetry and chemicals set up. When there was a visual, though, Hojo's dark, deep brown eyes narrowed.

...

"..."


"There's pods here or something! Maybe he wants to try and flash-freeze a buncha teenage girls?"


That was one option.

Instead of approaching them right away he flipped back to the front page on his clipboard, reading over it again while they explored and poked and bounced and giggled, or whatever it was you called it that young girls did. The first page was for Tifa, the dark-haired athletic teen chosen for her physical strength. The information listed contained everything from vitals and measurements to a brief description of her combat style to her grades to her background and a personality synopsis. She would provide a good representation for the many physical fighters SeeD encouraged, with Hojo already far into planning several different potential enhancements he would test on her. Next, similar but on the other end of the spectrum, was the girl Yuna, whom he flipped the page for and compared the picture with the teenager standing at the opposite end of the room. Whereas Tifa was a physical fighter, Yuna excelled in magic, particularly in summoning magical beings, which had pretty much volunteered the girl for this role as far as science was concerned. They were two great examples of extremes, and would be the guinea pigs for many future enhancements that would be issued to other students, once the...potential kinks were all worked out. Third on his list, Hojo flipping the page, was the mousy Selphie, a girl average in most ways, exceeding in few, negative in none. She had been chosen as a great all-around subject, for there were many here who were good-but-not-great, who often acted as support on missions, and they too were due for potential enhancement. Last was the vibrant Rikku, a girl whose agility and speed were not often seen among the ranks, but there was certainly a valid representation, making her a late addition to the group.

Of course, 'enhancements' was a very wide word that could mean a great litany of things. It could be better weaponry or performance potions, sure, but why not more? Why not longer lasting drugs? Why not a mutated body? The idea of students coming to this school for education was hardly a ruse - they were here to be weapons, raised under the banner of a private military, even if many didn't realize that's what the end-game was about. After talking a few months ago with the Headmaster, Hojo had received the green light for an entirely new style of testing, with proper funding and silent understanding that if results could be consistently produced going forward, the ends would justify the means. If there had to be...sacrifices along the way, they just had to be sacrificed quietly. He had the approval to do all that he wished, and after a few months of using that funding to set up the coming experimentations and to study everything ahead of time as well as one could, today it was finally time.

"We'll worry about those in a moment," Hojo spoke, walking toward the group now, his voice raising to cover the distance. "We must attend to something else first - two somethings." As his steps brought him closer on the clean, sterile floor his voice would recede back to its normal volume. Clipboard at one side, he came to stand before the quartet, eyeing each with a simple calmness, almost oblivious of the warm flesh and soft curves that peeked out of so many places in their clothing - almost. Today was a day for science; these were his lab mice, his guinea pigs, his fluffy little bunny rabbits to do with as exploration wills.

Neither of those two things, by the way, was a proper introduction. Both parties here knew as much as they needed to.

"Stand in a line, come." He adjusted his glasses, then looked to his clipboard. Fingering through the first few pages, "Tifa, Yuna, Selphie, Rikku, in that order. Each of you kneel down with your head lowered."

 

[darkest_fate]

The incoming steps and the calling voice caught the attention of the girls. They all turned to look at Hojo. Yuna and Selphie looked slightly embarrassed at what they'd been doing, or more accurately, what Rikku had mostly been doing. Rikku didn't show the slightest sign of remorse. She only moved away from the various tubes when Yuna reached over and physically pulled us away. The two had a quick whispered exchange that essentially amounted to "behave."

"What two sometimes are that?" asked Tifa, voicing the same question they all had. They all moved forward, figuring they might as well approach the scientist. They had, after all, volunteered, well, volunteered for SEEd and then been assigned to this, so more or less volunteering. Plus, each and every one of them was used to following orders from their superior officers. Didn't mean they couldn't question those orders though, wonder what was going on.

Selphie and Yuna naturally got into position, Selphie moving almost too quickly. Yuna started to go back to grab Rikku, but even the blonde had bounded into place. Tifa joined, and it soon became apparent that the girls didn't really mind standing in line. The next order got a few surprised looks though.

"Seriously: what's going on?" asked Tifa, her voice a little harsher.
"Yeah, you did just, um, call us here and--" said Yuna, her voice uncertain.
"And it looks super creepy and all," finished Rikku. Yuna started, turning to her cousin and beginning to say that she hadn't meant, but Rikku was already continuing. "And why do you need us to kneel down and junk? That sounds even creepier."
Even Selphie looked somewhat reluctant, though she'd started to move before realizing that the others weren't going to obey any time soon. They all remained in their spots, but they also all remained standing, looking at Hojo. Tifa had crossed her arms just below her breasts, her eyebrows raised, while Yuna fidgeted awkwardly from side to side. It looked like Rikku would probably be distracted by something shiny at any moment, but she at least feigned interest in what was going on.

They did want to know what Hojo had planned, after all, and they weren't quite willing to just blindly kneel before someone without so much as an explanation.

 

[As Day Fades]

Hojo, quite simply, would become perturbed if this was the sort of resistance he was going to get. He wasn't there yet. Right now Tifa just caused his upper lip to find slight curve, his brows to come together a bit. It was still a bit away. But they were just getting started too - there was no need for pushback this early on.

"What's going on," standing a few feet in front of the line of girls, dark hair falling about either side of his face, long white lab coat cascading down his form, clipboard held to one side, "is you are all here to aid in the betterment of SeeD. Whether it's to create new weaponry or drugs, or whatever borderless scientific experimentation allows us to develop, I have a feeling that those trials that go well here over the next several months will become commonplace in the field. The Headmaster has given me complete authority to select those I feel best suited for this role, as well as complete freedom to pursue whatever avenue of thought which may lead to merited results. ...Does this suffice? You should all be very grateful and enthusiastic right now."

He exhaled. To think, having to explain himself to a bunch of students! So what if they hadn't been told? They didn't need to be. "I would have liked to have seen a stronger show of obedience before questioning your betters," he commented, looking to each of the four girls briefly, to Tifa twice, then turning, walking to the nearest of the rows of tables. He picked up a long white aluminum bottle with a spray nozzle, a length of small-type red wording written vertically around most of its length. Turning and walking back to the line of girls, he headed to Tifa first, "Unless your vowed devotion to this establishment is really that fickle."

A long, measuring, bespectacled look was paid the black-haired teen, Hojo standing maybe six or eight inches from her. The bottle was brought up without word and its thin mist was squirted forth right at Tifa's face; he continued numerous times, spraying her forehead and hair, the sides of her hair, her shoulders, her arms, chest, front of her skirt, even shooting aiming it once beneath her skirt and shooting up before continuing onto her long, strong legs. "You're all disgusting with germs," came the belated address. He started walking around Tifa now, spraying her up and down the sides, and up and down the back. "This is a water-based mixture filled with safe chemicals that will mostly sterilize you. We aren't working in the sort of place where microbiology necessitates pure sterilization, so there's no need for the bulky equipment that would do it properly, but this will eliminate most of what you've brought in, keeping this place clean."

He was on to Yuna at this point, starting at the brunette's back and gradually working around her, skimping no part as he sprayed the mist on her clothing and skin alike, even that whorish thing she called a top. The same treatment was given to the next two girls, the apparent obedient, respectful one and the forward Al Bhed. When it was all done he came to stand in front of Selphie, passing the bottle to the same hand that held the clipboard. Seeing as she was the only one who had fully listened, Hojo's slender fingers slid into the top of her brunette hair, the girl barely above waist height with her kneel, setting his hand there. Looking about to the other three, "Well?"

 

[darkest_fate]

Heads swiveled as Hojo spoke and moved. Eyes watched him carefully as four sets of ears listened intensely. Well, it was debated how closely Rikku paid attention, though she at least put on the appearance of listening intently to Hojo, or at least of imitating everyone else. Yuna and Tifa flinched as Hojo threw out the mention of weapons and doing what it took. Duty weighed heavily on each of them. the answer was enough to have even Tifa grunting and looking slightly disgruntled.

Not enough to completely let down her guard in front of the man. She met his eyes as he stared at her, her eyes narrowing. When he moved to get the bottle, Tifa's muscles tensed. She might have done something stupid had Yuna not reached to take one of her hands. Tifa's head snapped toward her friend, seeing Yuna's apologetic/hopeful look, those mismatched eyes begging her friend to behave. Tifa sighed in frustration, turning to look as Hojo came close. This mean that she turned right into the spray.

Tifa coughed and actually started to lunge. Yuna caught her, pulling back and stopping her. The spray continued, and Tifa's flailing would actually make her an easier target. Rikku, still smiling, moved over to help her. They all kept their attention on Hojo while he spoke and moved now.

"I showered though!" protested Rikku, tilting her head.
"It's probably for the lab," said Yuna. She released Tifa as the other girl tugged hard. Hojo talked like it was easy and that they should just take it. Yuna wanted to set a good example and show that she too, wasn't unruly, and actually extended her hands up. She moved to kneel as soon as he finished. He'd answered their questions, done more than that.

Yuna then reached to tug at Tifa, while also giving Rikku a look. The blonde rolled her eyes but dropped to her knees in a smooth motion. Tifa moved reluctantly, clearly still not thrilled with the situation. She accepted her position though, kneeling with the rest of the girls. There was a lot of movement as they all shifted and adjusted skirts though, tugging to cover white or tanned knees.

"Um," said Selphie, who'd been quiet, "how exactly are we, um, going to help? We're all not exactly science people or anything," she looked down the line, then tilted her head, looking back up at Hojo. "Did you just need strong people to test it on? Oh, I'm sorry!" she jerked her hands up to her face. "I didn't mean to---"

"But she's got a point," said Tifa. The brawler sighed though. "But I don't want to listen to some kind of lecture. Let's just get this stupid thing over with. Just tell us what you want us to do already.

 

[As Day Fades]

"Just wait there," Hojo said simply in reply, turning from the girls, walking back to the side of that closest stainless steel table. Setting the bottle down, the scientist picked up an item beside it that he'd placed there before, an oddly shaped gun, holding it in his left hand, the same whose arm kept the clipboard pressed to his body. He fidgeted a moment with its settings, a '001' appearing on an electronic display that sat on the top and toward the back, where a sight would usually be. He didn't answer Selphie's question. Not yet anyway. A private sneer appeared on his lips briefly, back turned to the four, gone as quick as it came. Had he not given explanation enough? These were just test subjects. In what other field did you explain to your lab rats 'why them'?

His face showed nothing as he turned back, walking over to Tifa first. Briefly Hojo wondered if this girl, the chesty black-haired one would be the most difficult, but with her ample athleticism and even more ample body for breeding and nursing, such a specimen was worth the initial 'pounding of the chest,' in terms of authority. "We will begin shortly." He slid his bare hand beneath Tifa's long dark hair, moving it to the side, over her right shoulder. "You will feel a burning sensation - don't flinch," as he lined the gun up with the back of her neck. A soft hold on the trigger illuminated forward a light, an outline to act as guide for his aim, and when he had it aligned how he wanted his careful, precision touch squeezed down more, causing a laser to come forth from the gun's tip. A soft hum sounded, and for Tifa there would be the immediate burning sensation - uncomfortable, a bit painful, but no worse than holding one's hand above a flame for several seconds. "As trained combatants I would think this feeling trivial." It was similar in feel to getting a shot from any other doctor, just prolonged. It took twelve seconds total, Hojo having only to keep the device steady, the laser moving on its own as it etched a '001' into the back of Tifa's neck. Then it was over. He moved the fighter's long hair back into place, pulling it over her shoulder, letting it fall about her back, and moved on to the next girl.

That would be Yuna. "Again, do not flinch," as he brought his hands together, adjusting the display so it read '002'. His free hand this time smoothed up the back of Yuna's bare neck, lifting her hair up a bit to hold it out of the way while he aimed the gun, first using the projected light to center and align it how he wanted, then squeezing down slowly on the trigger until the laser hummed forth, burning the number into her skin. "Everything in this laboratory is recorded. There are cameras everywhere, and at multiple angles. It was so long before any of you arrived. As such, it has been since you all got here, and will continue to be during, and long after I need you all."

When she was finished he let her hair fall down into place and moved over to the next obediently kneeling girl, to Selphie. Everything was repeated, he taking a moment to adjust the display to '003' first, holding up the brunette's hair, aligning the gun as he wanted on her neck and squeezing on the trigger while the laser shot forth, going about its work. "Everything here is streamed and recorded off-site for posterity - for science. As such, each of you will have a new name while you are here. Please answer to it, use it for yourself and refer to others as theirs. Different, but not too difficult an adjustment, I would hope." He let Selphie's hair bob back into place when she was done.

Next and last came Rikku, the blonde girl. Hojo adjusted the display to '004' and set about moving aside her hair as he'd done with Tifa's, over the teen's right shoulder, though Rikku's was slightly more elaborate and he took a moment to move aside her stray braids as well as the long, loose hair itself. "Tifa is 'Zero Zero One,' or 'Number One.'" The gun projected its next number on the back of Rikku's pale white neck, was aligned, and began its engraving. "Yuna is 'Zero Zero Two,' or 'Number Two.' Selphie is 'Zero Zero Three,' or 'Number Three.' Rikku is 'Zero Zero Four,' or 'Number Four.'" For a moment he wondered if he'd gotten all their previous names right, but quickly he dismissed the thought as not mattering. When the blonde was finished he took a handful of her long yellow hair and returned it to her back.

"Now, I believe I saw you expressing an interest in the containment units, Four?" He walked from Rikku, back to that same steel desk where he sat the gun device back down. Hojo turned back to the group, held his clipboard up and flipped through it a moment, looking for something. He muttered to himself, nodded at something, went back to holding the thin wooden board at his side and looked to Rikku. "Would you like to assist in showing the others what they do? ...I recommend removing your clothing first. Three," glancing to Selphie briefly, then back to Rikku, "please collect Four's things and place them on the table. When you are ready you may go to the pod with your number on it and stand inside, preferably facing us."

 

[darkest_fate]

The girls' attention went to the gun, obviously wondering what it was all about. They figured he likely needed to label or inject them with something else, and it wasn't like they didn't have enough technology to get rid of something as simple as skin blemishes and the like. Plus, as Hojo would soon say, they were all used to pain, though to varying degrees.

Tifa, for example, didn't even flinch in the slightest. She felt the tingling on the back of her neck, felt it moving in a specific method, then felt her hair flop over her shoulder. She frowned as it finished, raising a gloved hand behind her. She poked the tender flesh, fighting the urge to wince. Easy enough to trace, to note the "1" etched into her. Tifa could pretty well figure out what that was for as well: clearly he needed to apply numbers to remove their names and crap like that. She didn't quite know why he felt it necessary to etch it into her skin as opposed to giving her a tag or something but, well, everyone knew that Hojo was a little... eccentric.

Said eccentric man moved on to Yuna next. He really wouldn't have to pull her hair up all that much, more toss aside the long braid that tangled free. Yuna let out a little gasp as she felt the heat touching her skin, wincing slightly. She fidgeted as well, her mismatched eyes going back, trying to follow him. Still, she listened, they all did, while Hojo explained that things were monitored. When Hojo moved on, Yuna brought her hand up, frowning in confusion at the sensation, looking over to Tifa. The long-haired brunette sighed and held up two fingers, which Yuna mouthed, obviously more confused than Tifa.

Selphie whimpered and squirmed throughout the process, barely managing to keep herself still. The explanation for the numbering came while she fought, and she barely understood, so wrapped up in the sensation was she. She whimpered as it finished, rubbing at her neck constantly, as if she could work it away or work the pain away.

"You mean number, not name," said Tifa, turning her eyes to watch him. "Because of the data and stuff," she blinked, watching as he moved aside Rikku's hair. The blonde soon giggled as she felt the laser dance along her neck, squirming in a manner obviously different than Selphie, but very much involving a lot of movement. Soon she was looking up at Hojo, blinking her wide, swirled green eyes.

"Uh, what?" she said, blinking. "You seriously want me to--"

"We are all girls," said Selphie, obviously not wanting to hear another lecture. Tifa was glaring too, and Selphie didn't want the outspoken brawler to get, well, into another verbal brawl.

So Rikku rolled her eyes, reaching up to undo her clothes. She shimmied out of the clothing, letting it drop from her body. As expected, she was lean, almost boyishly thin, though her impressive breasts gave way to her femininity. Fluffy yellow hair crowned her little sex, shaved into the shape of a chocobo's head, obviously well cared for. The blonde, now freed of clothing, seemed to have lost a few inhibitions as well.

"Uh, this one, right?" she said, pointing. She nodded and walked backward into it, hesitating for a only a moment. "So, like, are you gonna fill it with junk or something? Oh, is it gonna, like, fill with fluid and junk with this mask thing for me to breathe in or--"

"Someone watches too much anime," mumbled Tifa. Yuna giggled, obviously agreeing, though she quickly covered her mouth, not wanting to be seen mocking someone, especially if that someone was her cousin.

 

[As Day Fades]

Hojo didn't respond to Tifa. ...No, he meant name. Those numbers were who they were now. When - if - they returned to the school when this was all over, whenever that would be, they could resume their previous ones if that is what they preferred. But the laser-inscribed numbers on the backs of their necks were very much tattoos, very much like one would tag cattle, or put a tracking chip in the family dog.

If that was the extent of the resistance he got from the four while they were marked, a question that went unaddressed and some fidgeting and giggling, well that was a pleasant surprise. Even more pleasant was what came next - the young, nubile blonde giving just as brief a pushback before she quieted, stripping out of her clothes. My my, they were certainly embracing obedience fast, weren't they?

As much as this was about science, the physical attraction between two physically mature human beings was itself a science. An expert in some fields and an intermediate in others, one thing Hojo was not was a physician, and as such, hardly...desensitized to seeing flesh on a regular basis. Especially flesh so... His hands came together at his front, casually. The modest, mild arousal that immediately began was hidden well enough already beneath his black slacks and the length of white lab coat over top that, but just to be sure the clipboard moved over in front of his crotch too, the opposite hand coming over to clasp the one at the wrist. His eyes took a moment to soak in Rikku's generously sized breasts as they bounced naked and free while she shimmied. Then her flat, firm stomach, lean and taut. Then the private patch of pretty yellow fluff, trimmed in a shape that left her actual vaginal lips bare beneath it. ...Amidst the grip of excitement in his chest, Hojo blinked, taking look at the actual shape of Rikku's pubic hair and...almost chuckled. Cute. He made a brief, bemused noise but quickly caught himself.

"Actually," he commented after Tifa, "Four isn't very far from the truth." Hojo approached the right part of the pod, standing just outside and to Rikku's left, tapping the display screen. "Three, please gather up Four's things and place them on the table," he repeated from before, which normally would have gotten to him, but right now it was no bother. This was too interesting at the moment. After tapping a few buttons that appeared on the display a pair of thick plastic doors closed, shutting Rikku inside.

"I have designed many advances for these. They are a little more advanced than what you have seen in cartoons," with a chuckle. His voice was notably raised, just a bit, "She can still hear us. Watch. Four, raise your hand please, wave. See? Think of these as a window in a vehicle, or on a wall, where sound is muffled to a point but you can still hear through it. This glass though is much stronger; it would take far more than a stone to even scratch it." The fingers of his right hand moved about the display, navigating the options. A hole opened up inside, at the back of it and toward the top, six inches in diameter with a sleek black grate covering the opening. A liquid began gushing in; comfortably warm, mostly clear with a light blue hue, very much like water but heavier, sticky, a slight slimy texture to it. "Between these two layers of doors others can be added with the press of a button." He did so, and across the front, in the space between the two clear layers slid one with a light black tint. "We can still see Four through this, but now she can neither see nor hear us." He pressed another button, a darker, fully black layer of glass now rotating into place. "And this is for complete privacy, for when others are to come to the lab and I've no interest in their seeing," Hojo paused briefly, "ongoing projects."

With the press of the same two buttons both of the restricting layers slid back away from the front of the enclosure, rescinding back into its sides. By now the light blue water-like substance was up about the teen's knees. "What is filling inside is a very special mixture of my design. There is no need for tubes, or even a breathing apparatus - she will not drown once she is covered in it, but rather continue to breathe as normal. It is full of oxygen which she will intake through her skin. Her lungs will expand, and when she breathes out you will see air bubbles as normal." It was up to the top of her thighs now, swaying a bit inside as more came pouring in, crashing down, just starting to touch at her crotch. "It will also transfer not food and water to her body, but the base nutrients that they provide, giving her all the sustenance her body will need for the duration she spends encased in it without ever feeling hunger or thirst, or creating bodily waste. Additionally, it will read the data from her body - her vitals, blood pressure, various things - and show all the information on the display here, so I may analyze her more acutely." It was up to her ribcage now, just starting at her breasts.

Then Hojo waited. He stood and, probably like the other girls, watched Rikku like the lab rat she was, the water-like substance continuing higher and higher. It would fill to cover her breasts while they all watched in awkward quiet, it would continue up to her shoulders and further, to her neck, her chin, splashing against her as it chugged in like a filling bathtub from up above. What came next was up to her, whether it engulfed her head immediately or if she instinctively swam up to savor the last bit of air, but given time it was going to fill, all the way to the top. The holding area she was in of the containment unit was seven and a half feet tall, while the entire thing, base, length and top combined, was a full eight feet.

Once it was completely filled the grate automatically closed off and Hojo started pressing at buttons again. "She is going to nap for a little while," he said. Then, stepping back, he resumed observing the nude blonde with the rest, her hair moving in an enticing fluid manner, fully submerged. "What she is in itself does not put her to rest, but with an alteration to it as I applied just now it will. Over the next few seconds you will see her become drowsy and pass out. Encased in its warmth and nutrients, she will remain this way for however long until the mixture is shifted back - a few hours, a few days, years even, hypothetically, though I've not tested it at such length. And when she does wake, she will do so feeling fully refreshed."

Hojo smirked to himself, reaching up to pluck at his glasses, cleaning them with a hand tucked inside his lab coat. The individual pods were numbered for a reason. The girls would become intimately familiar with them in due time. He replaced the spectacles on his face. "Let us begin with the first test, shall we?" Turning, he left Rikku there in the enclosure, walking off. His voice kept raised up, speaking to the trio that remained even as he walked away, "Come. Number One, you will be first."

 

[darkest_fate]

Three frowned for a moment but gathered up Rikku's things anyway. None of the girls looked all that thrilled at being called a number instead of their names. They exchanged glances with one another. Sure, they understood it all: part of the testing process. They'd signed up for stuff like this when they'd agreed to enter the program. Yuna and Tifa had even participated in a few tests, the former involving tricky weaponry while Tifa had worked with various defenses and a few potions and the like. So while none of them like the situation, or Hojo, for that matter, they all understood that it was all mostly necessary.

Didn't stop Rikku from jumping slightly as she was sealed within the tube. The bubbly blonde wrapped her knuckles against the shielding, then smiled a little nervously. She'd dealt with underwater training and stuff before, having become something of an expert in it during a few missions. She jumped and giggled slightly as liquid sloshed in, before bending down, showing remarkable flexibility in the relatively small confines of the tube. The girl brought her fingers up and licked them, pulling a face at the taste for a moment.

The others watched with varying degrees of nerves. Tifa clearly didn't like the idea of being put in a tube, her body tensing yet again. Nor did Yuna either, who shifted nervously and exchanged looks with an only slightly more calm Selphie. all listened as the scientist explained, saying that they could see and here, that the coverings had various layers and whatnot. All made sense. They still wondered why he would need to experiment with tubes on actual SEEds though.

"This, um, seems like technology that you could test on just about anybody," Yuna pointed out, turning her head to watch Hojo. The sliding of the layers drew her attention back to Rikku, who now kicked about a little in the liquid. It all sounded good, and Rikku didn't seem to mind. she giggled a bit, announcing that it tickled.

"Yeah, I don't think I'm going to do the tube thing," said Tifa, looking over at Hojo. "you're not going to need all of us to test that, right? Just a few people, see if it works for containment and healing and all that junk."

Rikku actually allowed the liquid to ascend over her head, bobbing down. She held her breath and gestured for a bit, before realizing that she was probably supposed to breath it in. So she took a deep breath, gagging for only a moment as her body adjusted to the difference. Soon the drugs hit her, and Rikku's eyes fluttered for a moment. Not long after that, she relaxed, practically floating in the liquid, her various blonde braids bobbing.

"Definitely not," said Tifa, frowning, her arms crossed over her breasts. "There's probably no reason anyway. If it can put Rikku out," she pointed, "then it'll put any of us out."

She turned as Hojo came close again, even rising up when he asked about her. "Sure, whatever," she said. "I want to get this nonsense over with anyway. I'm guessing you want me to beat something up?" She sounded bored with it. Sometimes she wished they'd let her use materia or practice something other then fighting. Her skill-set had developed beside that, after all. SEEd relied on that for some missions, but as often as not, Tifa was called in for a bruiser. Well, she often got called in for a wringer too. Yuffie might be better at magic, Rikku slightly quicker, while Yuna had the team spirit or whatever, but Tifa had the best all-round record, and she rarely got beat. She already started to move to follow Hojo, though she was also half-considering just knocking him out and claiming it was some kind of accident.

Guy gave her the creeps.

 

[As Day Fades]

He didn't address either of them, the questions that Tifa or Yuna were asking. All would be revealed soon enough. All, or at least enough to really make things interesting, if a naked teenager floating unconscious in a glass chamber wasn't interesting enough, would become apparent to the imminently - that this was to be more than testing Hi-Potions or some new style of gunblade.

"I'm not sure that you could," Hojo spoke low, to himself, smirking to Tifa's question on if she'd be beating something up as he walked across the room. He checked the clipboard again, chuckling privately at something.

The left side of the large laboratory was all tables, each containing its own series of experiments, tools, books and what have you. The right side was just this large open rectangle, roughly the size of some mid-range sporting field. Maybe three tennis courts side to side. All around its rectangular length, about three feet from the walls was a line of red lights that formed the rectangle shape itself. As Hojo reached one of the computers at the terminal on the far end of the room, past the series of tables, a quick succession of buttons saw these red lights from the floor shoot up toward the ceiling all around its massive shape. They were so close together that rather than bars, they just looked like walls, closing the 'court' in on each of its sides.

A few more presses of buttons and the sound of machinery hummed; the third quadrant, the one toward the back where they were now, rescinded down into itself, lowering like an elevator. "What you see before you is a force field," Hojo explained, his voice raised again. "It does not hurt, but it traps. If one is inside and tries to interact with it it may as well be a brick wall; you cannot walk through it, nor shoot projectiles, nor will liquid or even gas escape. But this wall only works one way - from the outside we may enter in without issue, then are inside until it is lowered."

The loud sound of the lowering floor stopped. Quickly several pictures of monsters, their names, statistics and information flashed across the computer screen he was at as Hojo scrolled through them. He stopped on a large forest-colored tentacled beast whose head formed about a third of its body, and that large head was made up of roughly a dozen eyeballs and probably over a hundred sharp shark-like teeth. Amidst the eyeballs and tentacles were also pores that jutted out from all over its body, which nature had armed it with to deadly effect. Known as a malboro, sounds came from beneath them as Hojo continued with the terminal, one such of these very creatures being released out of its below-ground cage and encouraged onto the platform. With a camera view showing him the creature had climbed on he pressed one more button and the large freight-like elevator pad began rising up, its machinery sounding again.

He stood from the chair. "Two, Three, come. One will be engaging it shortly. You would do well to watch, to better understand."

 

[darkest_fate]

Tifa raised her brows as Hojo suggested that she might not be able to take whatever he had in mind. So, he'd be pairing her against some kind of creature then: he'd all but confirmed it. Whatever. She'd done that a few times, though usually she had some sort of extra equipment on that she was testing instead. She had her gloves, but they weren't charged or equipped with anything that would increase them. Tifa could still handle herself baseline, but she knew that some creatures would have the advantage of her without anything to help.

Tifa watched Hojo head to a particular computer, enter data. she walked over to get a decent look, then heard the noise as the "court" locked. Tifa turned, her head moving as she took in the various walls. Things moved and rooms appeared to form, made entirely out of light. No hurting, just trapping. so were they testing that? The idea of hammering against a wall of light held no appeal for Tifa, but she supposed she could do it if they required it of her.

Didn't hurt, trapped, blah, blah. The floor moved, and Tifa turned, looking to see the screen. She could only barely make out shapes, only a few of which looked immediately familiar to her. Tifa heard machinery moving and turned to look, her body tensing. So he wanted her to... engage with whatever came up.

"You're not going to give me anything?" she asked, looking over at him. She frowned for a moment before looking back at what rose from within. She saw the writhing tendrils and frowned. "Okay, you do realize that's a Marlboro, right?" she asked, pointing and looking back at Hojo. "Only an idiot goes against one of those without some kind of protection. Was that spray supposed to protect me from it or something? Because I'm not really sure I could take one of those by myself, and I don't really want to end up getting confused and punching a wall or attempting to climb the walls or something."

Though they'd all experienced confusion before. Still, Marlboro breath was... different. They called it "Bad Breath," which almost sounded tame. it was known to royally mess up your body though, sometimes leading to death. So, yeah, Tifa definitely didn't want to enter an enclosed room with it, no matter what the training said.

 

[As Day Fades]

"Ah, so you are familiar with the malboro?" Hojo looked to her, then to the beast, the floor having risen up and locked into place. It turned about, examining its surroundings, then immediately exhaled a gaseous green breath upon seeing Tifa and the doctor standing there. It shot forth, crashed against the faint red light and gradually dispersed outward in all directions, remaining trapped inside just as Hojo had said. The forest-shaded beast kept its numerous eyes centered on the pair, its slimy tentacles whipping about while it remained in place, uncertain of what next to do.

"Arguably the most deadly monster of all. But worry not, just as there are walls to keep it in, so too are there other precautions that will be put into place." He looked to her again, briefly, then back to the monster ahead of them. After a moment Hojo started walking off, going to the series of tables, to one in particular two rows in where a series of syringes had been loaded and set into a line. His voice rose appropriately, continuing to speak as he took one, starting back, "You do not need any additional equipment, just engage it as you normally would. I do not need you to test out some sword or armor today. There is specific data from the engagement I am looking to collect." She would be able to handle a needle, yes? He pressed it to her arm, injecting her with what was still an experimental drug.

"You are...more fitting for this, than any of the other girls," Hojo continued, walking to set the now emptied syringe back over by the others. "What I've given you should heighten your body's reaction to injury. Things will still hurt just as much, but, theoretically, you should be able to handle far, far more before actual death." He returned. "Though you won't actually. Do not worry - things should not get that far, and if they do, there are other devices in place that will intervene."

His hands moved to set behind his back, shoulders in a mild forward slump. "Hmm...Zero Zero Two does have a certain appeal for this, but no, I believe you are best." Though he wasn't talking about fighting styles or overall strength, even if his words could be misconstrued as such, as some sort of flattery. Tifa was the most fitting because of her bosom, because of her hips. Yuna was a very strong second.

"In theory what I've injected you with should begin working instantly. Please, enter. Engage it. Fight it as you normally would."