Authors Notes- Thanks for being so patient with my lack of updates. RL has not been kind. Chapter 9 will be out shortly, it's currently going through an overhaul.

Chapter 8: Diary of a Madman

Excerpts from the journal of Dr. James Hojo, date unknown.

…I hadn't even planned on using him, but my darling Lucrecia convinced me otherwise.

Imagine my surprise when she suggested we use him as the Chaos genome recipient. He who is the son of my first mentor.

Or perhaps that is the exact reason why she chose him, considering how much she knew about his family.

Speaking of his family, I need to find out the rest of the work Grimore did on him. There have been some interesting reactions that I have not gotten out of the other test subjects.

This brings up the interesting question of whether or not my favorite experiment realizes that his father had been feeding him Mako in disguise of vitamins.

Have to laugh at that. Everyone thinks I started it all, had to get my idea from somewhere, you know?

According to the one of many incomplete copies of the file Lucrecia spirited away from Grimoire, Vincent always had superior reflexes and coordination, but when Mako was applied it served to enhance his innate capabilities. Unfortunately, not long after that, Valentine the younger went off to a ShinRa run boarding school and no further records on him can be found until he joined the ranks of Turks.

What rankles me is that Grimoire's experiments indicate that minute amounts of Mako somehow begin to re-encode RNA and DNA sequences, to heighten senses, change organ structure, as well as bone density. But when you change the dose by even a milligram, it causes erratic changes within the cellular structure and the subject begins to take on grotesque characteristics. Horns, claws, and other animalistic attributes are not uncommon.

The exact dosing remains a mystery to me, as that file was destroyed, along with others when the Valentine house went up in flames. Lucrecia's overzealousness continues to be my bane. Ah well, I suppose I will just have to apply more work to him and see what I get.

Which brings me back to my current project, getting Mako changed DNA to accept another sequence, without killing the subject. In this instance, Valentine.

The Chaos genome was only theory and speculation until a few years ago.

Lucrecia's theory is that the planet supplies both its savior, and its destroyer. Omega, the ultimate weapon must be elimited in order for the planet to continue. How do you destroy a creature created by the cosmos itself? Damned if I know, I'm just a geneticist…

…I came back from his cell an hour ago with a fresh blood sample. The last one I took a few days ago was tainted by an infection.

I must remind that damned woman to stop putting microbial agents in his food while I am attempting to splice. The fever and spiked white blood cell count are completely throwing my work off course…

…I am beginning to think that perhaps I should not have let his body die that first time. While I managed to keep his brain alive after the initial execution, I was not so generous with his body.

After his revival, his organs and tissues remained in a state of shock, which I am finding out now is detrimental to both of our researches.

While she continues to test his responses to various environmental and man made agents, it plays havoc with his reactions to other tests.

The rate of cellular regeneration is sluggish, the immune system response is almost nil, and I've had to leave him on life support for a week now. I decided to induce a stasis sleep tonight, if only so he doesn't shock out while I amputate his arm.

Damn thing went gangrenous last night and it's started to spread to the good tissues. I'm going to have to cut it off at the bicep.

Oh well, it'll give me time to spend with my wife. Her third trimester has begun, and the child has begun to protest the daily Mako treatments.

As noted in his file, his progress within the womb is nothing short of amazing.

My son will be my greatest achievement, not only to my genetic research, but to myself in general.

That is why I must not fail in this Chaos genome project, because Valentine will be my son's instrument to ruling the world.

It's only a matter of time, time that she will grant me…

Entry end. Nothing further can be deciphered to due damage.