AUTHOR'S NOTE: Edited and revised as of January 2020. This is the final chapter of Worlds Collide.

WORLDS COLLIDE

Chapter XXIV – An Equivalent Exchange

Shinra's clinic, as Lightning Farron had speculated, was stationed underground in a series of cavernous tunnels buried deep within the mountain and away from prying eyes – an unnaturally, natural base of operations. While the majority of the clinic seemingly operated aboveground, a labyrinth of channels disguised a peculiar aspect of a clinic supposedly devoted to the cause of chaos victims.

In reality, every action taken by Shinra's Turks had, thus far, landed on the complete opposite end of any sort of worthy cause at all. Hostility was all Lightning had witnessed since fleeing Midgar a day ago; granted, she had clocked one of the female agents in the face, but still…

That's probably not going to help my case…I should have been more careful…damn, Lightning thought, briefly squeezing her eyes shut in frustration. I'm risking a hell of a lot just to get to the bottom of this place. Better be worth it.

So far, she hadn't accomplished much to justify her actions lately, to her disappointment. Laying eyes upon Shinra's clinic only raised questions; Ghost's escape was a feat in and of itself, regardless of whether the Turks constructed the entire plan to begin with. Her capture, while something of a nuisance, was going to shed some light on what had occurred in the thirteen days since…

Since…

She is dead…child.

An electrifying jolt raced through Lightning's body, raising the hair on the back of her neck. The muscles in her throat constructed painfully.

"Stop," spat Lightning, ignoring the sudden forceful shove in her back, followed shortly by an unidentifiable command.

The fault…is thine own to bear…

White walls. Chemicals. Pale linens. Hypnotizing lights. Black veins.

Get the hell out of my head, Lightning ordered, directing the command back to the goddess of the damned.

Silence.

Wiping a bead of sweat from her brow, Lightning focused her gaze once more on the backs of the two Turks escorting her, vehemently shaking any and all thoughts from her mind of that…hellhole of a nightmare. She didn't need a reminder of what had happened, no…

"We're here," sighed a female Turk to her right, lazily strolling to an iron door barring their progress. From the Turk's pockets protruded a glossy black keycard, which the woman promptly used to swipe across a slit to the left of the door. "Ugh, I hate this crap."

Lightning cocked an eyebrow.

"Get over it, for Gaia's sake."

This time, a burly Turk crowned by a greasy head of black hair stepped forward, rolling his eyes. Jutting from a gap between his teeth was a toothpick, abused all to hell and back, bobbing up and down as the man spoke.

"Manual labor isn't something foreign, you know. A long time ago, nothing was electronic and everything was manually done. You should thank your lucky stars that Rufus's engineers are the cream of the crop…just designing this stuff, man."

"Yeah, whatever. If only our PCs were worth a damn," responded the young Turk. "But really, you never shut up, I swear…"

Before the greasy-haired Turk could react to the remark, the iron door slowly slid open, retracting into the earthen walls with a tired creak. Although her escorts barred most of her view, Lightning could make out a young man stationed by the side of the door on the other side, clutching a thick rope, arms shaking. Lightning and her merry band of Turks stepped through, glancing upwards at the door panels as they passed beneath.

"You guys are asking for a broken neck," remarked Lightning. "This entire place is a health hazard to begin with."

"That's what I'm saying," whined the younger Turk who had spoken earlier. "Even the weird strawberry-head agrees with me!"

"Strawberry head?"

"This woman's got pink hair, Rin. That is so not real!"

"Looks real to me."

"Whatever – it's hair dye."

"It's natural."

"Yeah, yeah…sure it is, strawberry-head."

"Shut up, all of you! Rin, escort her to Customs & Management; they'll handle her registration there," barked a Turk at Lightning's back. "Lina, go make yourself useful and check on the gas deposits in the east wing."

Lina – the young, feisty Turk – tugged at her dark ponytail, huffing. "Yeah, you just want me to blow myself up, jerk."

"If it isn't too much to ask, please be my guest."

"Argh! Take some materia and shove it, stupid, old…bean-sprout–!" came Lina's retort. Thunderous echoes trailed after her receding footsteps until she finally stomped out of earshot.

Lightning couldn't help but smile at the exchange between the three Turks; for all of their hostility towards her, they were surprisingly, well…human. She'd be making a grave mistake to let her guard slip, but she also couldn't completely dismiss the Turks, either. Evidently, the Turks weren't too terribly concerned about slipping a few tidbits of info about the clinic's source of energy, Lightning realized. Ol' bean sprout had mentioned gas deposits, most likely being siphoned for the clinic's power – natural gas, no doubt.

How could they have constructed this entire operation in less than two weeks? It doesn't seem possible…there's too many things I don't understand about this place…

"Come on, Light! You're the one who said we could do anything!"

"I guess you're right. That seems to be a regular occurrence these days, Hope; you should be proud of how you've grown."

"I mean…I couldn't have done it without you supporting me. I'd probably be dead by now if you hadn't guided me."

"Tch. Don't get all soft on me, kiddo. Just remember what I've taught you…that's enough for me."

If there was one person Lightning wished were at her side, it was Hope Estheim. For all his past insecurities, the boy was something of an analytical genius in the making; a trait Lightning greatly admired in him. His invaluable insight of his surroundings would be a welcome help now…

Having anyone at my side right now…oh, how I would welcome that…

The registration process proceeded smoothly, and Lightning was in and out within minutes, sporting an amusing guest badge marked with the words: "Hello, my name is (print clearly) LIGHTNING."

Surprised to find herself alone at the behest of Rin's orders, Lightning paced impatiently, arms crossed. Rin and the others had departed several minutes before. As for her new guest, he was missing in action–

Lightning turned to face a man donning a long, medical coat bleached bone-white; its owner stepped into the circle of fluorescent light hanging above, smiling politely.

"I apologize for the arduous wait, Sergeant Farron. There was a small accident that required my attention," explained the man, adjusting a pair of olive spectacles. "My name is Naghi…I trust you remember me from our meeting not long ago?"

Ah. Right. The weird scientist guy.

"Yeah, I remember you," Lightning replied, cautious. "No need for formalities."

"Of course, Miss Farron, of course…follow me, please. We'll be able to talk in my office more freely–"

When her footsteps slowed, the scientist paused.

"Is there something wrong, Miss Farron?"

Lightning's fingers hovered over her gunblade's handle, tensing.

"Yeah. How the hell do you know my GC rank?"

"Hm?" Naghi's head tilted as he watched her over his shoulder…like a viper coiling over itself to gaze at a curious subject. "Miss Farron…you told all of us at Healin Lodge, do you not remember? A most interesting tale of your military service, if I recall."

Relaxing her body momentarily, Lightning struggled to remember the trivial details of the Healin Lodge meeting…it felt as though the meeting had happened years ago…

"Maybe…maybe I did," she admitted, more to herself than him.

Naghi simply smiled again, pressing forward through an open panel and gesturing Lightning forward. Much to her surprise, he left the panel wide open. Surely he would demand custody of her weapon, right? Even for a scientist – and a Turk at that – he was one hell of a weird entity, a calculating mind cloaked behind an awkward façade. What to make of Naghi…well, Lightning had no idea which screws he had loose…and which were screwed in the right places.

Might as well be blunt about her approach.

"You're not going to take away my weapon?" she inquired, casting her eyes about the vast facility around her, a web of wires and fluorescent lights dotting the ceiling.

Naghi blinked. "I suppose it is rather pointy," he mused, bending from the waist to inspect the leather case.

"Yeah, well…" Lightning began, scowling at his hunched figure and stepping back, "this thing is pretty damn sharp, too."

Her freak scientist companion straightened, nodding his agreement.

"I suppose it is a subject that merits future study in the future, but for now, let us 'get down to business,' shall we?"

"Sure…"

"Take a seat, take a seat! We have much to discuss, Miss Farron, regarding matters which greatly concern you."

"Right…well, go on."

Chaos theory and application in the field of science…

This concept, Naghi claimed, was the genesis of Shinra's clinic and research operations; expanded upon to include medical treatment and analysis of chaos victims – but, more importantly, the examination of chaotic matter. According to the researcher, Rufus Shinra had constructed the clinic with the intentions of initially providing a clinic for citizens touched by the chaos to recover. However, as the clinic steadily grew during a period of thirteen days, a research-minded sub-group of Turks proposed a plan to use the clinic as a sort of experiment, molding the underground infrastructure of the camp into a laboratory.

"We began to realize that this was the prime opportunity to observe live subjects hosting chaotic matter, you see. With Rufus's approval, we created our own branch of the clinic, which you see all around you."

"Experiments? What about Ghost? He doesn't have a particle of chaos left within him."

"No, Miss Farron, you are wrong. I will address your concerns in due time. So…"

Naghi was quickly promoted to the head manager of the research facility, which consisted of only a handful of tents scattered around the camp. Once the group's numbers continued to grow, Shinra authorized an expansion of the facility underground, drilling a network of tunnels into the mountain. Previously, the clinic had been powered by solar energy, an expensive source funded solely by the Turks' pockets. When the Turks drilled into the mountain, they found an infinite number of natural gas deposits, a convenient solution to their energy troubles.

"And the gas is inhalable?"

"I suppose we have gotten used to the fumes. Though odorous, it is not toxic. Very convenient."

No wonder he seems so loopy…who wouldn't have a few screws loose after breathing in this stuff for so long?

With the clinic powered and the Turks' budget on track, the clinic began publicly accepting patients from regions around the world. Most arrived from Midgar. Treatment options remained at a primitive level, Lightning learned with disdain, but the sole focus of the clinic revolved around–despicably enough–observation of chaos. What was once the priority of the clinic had devolved into a matter less important to their overall goal…

Still, how could it be possible that the Turks could treat chaos victims at all? Given what had happened when Lightning and Cloud had discovered Ghost outside of the church, they should have become "tainted" as well.

The answer…

"…Remains private at the request of our benefactor, unfortunately."

Lightning blinked, sure she had misheard him. "…What?"

"Confidential. Classified. Private. Personal, Miss Farron–"

"I know what it means," she snapped, eyes boring into his. "But it would be a good idea if you could disclose this information to me, at the benefit of your clinic. I don't have time to play games with you, doctor."

Another smile, eerie and insincere this time.

"I must decline, Miss Farron–"

"You've got to be kidding me…"

Naghi merely shrugged. "We must run this camp one way or another, you understand. As I was saying…"

Somehow, the Turks had avoided the consequences of chaos's indomitable touch. With this new revelation in mind, the research team devoted their efforts into capturing chaotic matter…impossible in theory, but despite its essence being unknown, Naghi explained that chaotic matter is, for all intents and purposes of real-world examples, constructed of elements similar to molecules. Essentially, chaotic matter could very well be a new classification of matter dealing with time-altering abilities. Solids, liquids, and gases…all familiar concepts from Lightning's high school chemistry course. His theory was that chaotic matter could very well explain one of the unknown elements of the universe – time. The three states of matter and elements compose all living and nonliving things in the human world, all of which account for some kind of concept…that is, except the passage of time.

History…past, present, and future…the Historia Crux…perhaps a physical form of the world's time continuum? An interconnected web of temporal worlds?

Chaos…and paradoxes…but…how can something so malevolent possibly be a natural element of the world? Chaos is the very thing I'm fighting.

And Sergeant Ghost, her comrade? She'd eradicated every last bit of chaos from his heart after he'd appeared through the paradox. Could it be that the chaos in one's body is related to memories of the past? Or a human's life? If so, why would the goddess want her to eradicate the darkness to begin with?

Chaos Bahamut…what the hell would explain that? How can someone wield an element like chaos? If one had the power to control chaos, they would hold the future of the universe in their palm…

Aeterna…

Naghi's words faded into the background, muffled by the soft voice intruding into Lightning's mind once again. The goddess's voice was as weak and nearly indecipherable as always–

Wait.

Aeterna…Lux Aeterna…

Eternal light. Light.

Aeterna and chaos.

Light and darkness.

Alright, alright, that was helpful this time around, thank you…I understood the correlation before, but I don't get what exactly I'm fighting here. This guy thinks chaos is a natural element of the world, Lightning pondered, feeling slightly ridiculous for holding an internal conversation with a goddess. If that were the case, chaos wouldn't be the nasty enemy I've been trying to push back…right? And before I even came here, there's been talk of this…Geostigma. What was that? Some unrefined form of chaos…?

A balance, you must ensure…

Lightning scowled, irate. "More riddles. Great."

"– our experiments have revealed very little–Miss Farron?"

"Sorry, eh…what?"

"Hm, you seem to have entered a state of disinterest and irritability."

"…"

"We have discussed a number of topics already. Would you like to see more of the facility and return to this conversation in thirty minutes?" the doctor asked, examining the soldier's facial expression with indiscreet fascination. Strange, the doctor seemed to shed his professionalism in public in place of a more characteristic…oddball-ness.

"Sure, doc, I'd love to examine more dirt!" she responded sardonically.

Naghi rose to his feet, grinning broadly.

"That is the spirit, Miss Farron!"

Ten minutes later, after trekking through endless tunnels filled with–strangely enough–dirt, soldier and mad scientist arrived in a dimly-lit room sealed with tin panels, the walls decorated with a network of black cables; at the source of the mayhem was a small station of computer monitors hooked up to a single, enormous monitor securely mounted behind the setup. Directly parallel from the entrance and fastened to the ceiling with steel cables, an examination table sat in the middle of the room. The glare emitting from the computers' monitors cast the table in an eerie light, one Lightning wasn't too comfortable with staring at for very long.

She shook her head and gestured to the computers. "What's up with the dinosaurs?"

"Cocoon must have boasted some incredible technology," the doctor remarked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah…"

"Well, these systems contain a host of valuable research conducted on-site and across the world. It's night right now, so no one is working at the moment, but three of our researchers record all of our data and store it digitally on these computers' hard drives. X-rays and the like, essentially. We also log all of our patients' medical charts and data as well."

Lightning's eyes gazed at the screens, mesmerized by the spectrum of pixilated data circulating across the monitors.

"Yeah? You want to point out Ghost's file for me?" asked Lightning.

Naghi's smile slipped.

"My apologies, Miss Farron, all of that information is–"

"Classified. Yeah, so I figured," she muttered, striding past the doctor's meek form and staring down at the computers.

"Ah…please do not touch the systems. You see, all of the networks are down at the moment, as our IT man has yet to look into the problem, despite my efforts to persuaded him…"

"Never underpay your only IT guy, Naghi. Common knowledge," Lightning murmured, distracted as she reached for the keyboard keys.

"Yes, but, ah…if I may insist, Miss Farron, do not–" he stammered, reaching forward to grab her shoulder.

A cold, gloved hand closed around his wrist, gripping it tightly. Naghi could feel the temperature in the room plummet as he quickly jerked his hand from the woman's hold, rubbing his wrist in pain.

"If I can avoid a mess, I will. So, for your own benefit, show me Ghost's file," Lightning demanded quietly, frighteningly calm. "Look, I'll admit I was distracted by your guys' hospitality, but I have no time to spare. I need copies of every single byte of data on a thumb drive – do you know what that is?"

Satisfied with the doctor's nod, she took a seat in the padded leather chair, struggling to read the foreign code crammed onto the monitor. Experience told her she probably shouldn't bother with trying voice activation…a moment later, her thoughts were interrupted; Naghi slid a rectangular thumb drive across the dust-ridden table, glaring with intensity and disgust in equal measure.

"You lying woman…you were after this data the entire time. Why would you risk your friend's life for this information?" Naghi demanded, regaining an iota of confidence.

"Ghost's life was never at risk, doc," she replied, cocking an eyebrow when she reached the desktop screen without trouble. "I saved him and found these files in one night…think of it as hitting two birds with one stone, square in the eye…"

Hmm…not even a password?

Navigating the computer's folders was a bit of a hassle given her lack of experience with ancient technology, but she was able to find every single file containing patient images, "PDF" formats of medical charts (whatever that meant), and a wealth of typed documents filled with medical mumbo-jumbo. Hidden somewhere amongst the files must also be information about this "benefactor" Naghi spoke of – rather, refused to speak of. Perhaps the clinic's sponsor knew something about chaos, hence the reason for his or hers financial support.

"Rufus will hear about this," Naghi warned, anxiously pacing behind her. "You have no right to seize private documents in such a manner. I should have listened to the others and refused your visit."

"I'm trying to save the world – again – and maintain a delicate balance; I need this data if I want to pull it off. The rules of ethics don't apply here," Lightning replied shortly, standing abruptly with the thumb drive pocketed. "…Look, Naghi, thanks for your cooperation and trust. But…you're hiding something, and so is this entire camp. I'm sure of it, and I want to find out what exactly that is."

The doctor blanched, blinking furiously. "I-I don't know what you are referring to, Farron."

Well, at least the formalities were out of the way.

Gazing up at the tin walls above her head, Lightning shook her head impatiently.

"You're a terrible liar, doctor."

"I–"

"Either help me, or stay out of my way. This is what I have to do. What Cloud and I need to do. Regardless, with or without your help, these files should help quite a bit. I've got an Artefact to find, remember?"

Naghi immediately froze, stiffening like a wooden board. From his mouth emitted a sibilant squeak.

"…Uh," Lightning trailed off, frowning at the doctor's odd position. "What is it?"

And then the doctor moved, a spastic episode of excited gestures and mumbled proclamations.

"Yes, yes, Miss Farron, I do remember!"

What in the hell…?

"Sorry, what did you say about that natural gas not being toxi–" she joked, anticipating some sort of epileptic attack of scientific jargon spewing from the doctor's hanging mouth.

"I have a proposition for you, Miss Farron."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes. I believe you have yet to locate an Artefact, yes? This item is crucial to opening a time gate as well, correct?" said Naghi, physically buzzing with excitement. If the man were riding a jackhammer, Lightning wouldn't have known the difference.

"Yeah–"

"If you return our data to me, Miss Farron, I will give you an Artefact!" the man proclaimed, adjusting his spectacles with an air of finality.

If thy were…

"For Pulse's sake, Etro, shut up!" Lightning cut in, unaware that she had spoken aloud.

An Artefact. What she and Cloud had been chasing after since she first came to Gaia…

"You just said…an Artefact," Lightning breathed, eyes glazing over. Panoramas of her family waiting for her on Gran Pulse flashed through her mind, hints of her future…

"Yes, indeed. I possess an Artefact courtesy of our most generous sponsor, whom I am extremely grateful to for his support," Naghi hurriedly explained, gesturing wildly. "It is most important to me that this data does not exit our headquarters, so I offer this proposition of an equal exchange. Do you accept?"

An Artefact…I was beginning to believe that such a thing never existed…

A flood of emotions rushed through Lightning, clouding her mind. Elation at the thought of finally holding an Artefact in her hands, the key to a time gate that would lead her one step closer to Serah…never had her goal appeared so clear and enticing, free from the haze of doubt and despair of fighting chaos. An inkling of disbelief persisted at the edges of her mind, but she pushed them away; Naghi owed her an explanation for why he had an Artefact to begin with, and the loss of the data was a setback, but…the Artefact was much more valuable to her.

After several minutes of internal deliberation, Lightning swiftly surrendered the thumb drive to Naghi, folding her arms expectantly. Her anticipation could hardly be suppressed.

"Right…show me that Artefact."

END

Ending author's note: The first chapter of this story was originally published in 2011, a little less than ten years ago. Since then, the last chapter was published in 2015, five years ago. In that time I've continued playing the games this story is based off of, but I don't write anymore but nonetheless wanted to edit the full story one last time and release it. No, I will not be giving the story up to anyone; it will remain as is.

What became of Cloud and Lightning's adventures, well, we may never know. I hate to leave this old story unfinished, but I've mostly moved on from it. Thank you to everyone who was interested in and enjoyed the story; likewise, thank you to everyone who ever reviewed the story. It was a wild ride, and this story was far from perfect, had many issues and inconsistencies but nonetheless, I poured my heart into it when I was younger and hope that it was enjoyable.

Thank you for reading Worlds Collide.