A/N: Let me tell you, honestly, that I am enjoying this story immensely. Since it is set five hundred years in the future, the possibilities for mischief and mayhem are practically endless. And I'm afraid my imagination is running ahead of me, shouting "Yee-ha!" with evil and decidedly wicked glee…

Chapter Summary: The first SOLDIER released from his chamber is awake and aware - thanks to Aerith's intervention. Although they are hungry for the knowledge he can impart, there are other concerns. The capsules are on the verge of failing, as is the energy source that keeps them running. And someone has informed the Coalition about what they've found in the ruins, which means they have a traitor in their midst. But when the next SOLDIER is released, they make an even more unsettling discovery…

Discovery, Part 2

By Ivy Elise Tanté

All was quiet on floor 68 of the old ShinRa tower. The battery-operated light stations hummed softly in the still air, a sound more felt that heard. To Tifa, that faint background hum was just another part of her archeological adventures, as was the deplorable camp food and the always needed bug spray.

"Both teams just reported in," Aerith said, readjusting the tiny receiver in her ear. "Yuffie's is on 62, and Barret's just entered 60. And they are finding the same thing as up here - almost nothing was taken from the tower when the city was abandoned. Wedge says the snack and drink machines are still fully stocked." There was amusement in her voice as she gave the report; Wedge's attention was usually focused on food, in one way or another.

"He would notice," Tifa echoed Aerith's thoughts with a smile of her own. She glanced up as Reeve walked towards them, data pad in hand. "Find anything yet?"

Squatting on his heels, he offered the device as he said, "Cid was able to hack into the system easily enough, but doesn't want to start poking and prying too intently until all the SOLDIERs are out of the capsules. As you would expect, the computers are right on the verge of crashing after five hundred years of neglect and humidity." He watched as Tifa reached the part of the report he thought was the most interesting and smiled as her eyes went wide. "As you can see, the tower isn't powered by mako after all. Someone installed a turbine in the waterfall in the southeastern quadrant of the city, and connected it to the conduits already running throughout the tower. It's a rather ingenious apparatus, but Cid says it was hastily cobbled together and won't work for much longer."

As she often did now, Aerith smoothed a hand over the dark, feathery hair of the man taken out of the chamber only a couple of hours ago. "So we found them just in time?" she asked.

"So it would seem." Reeve watched the man closely. "It's strange to think he might be from five hundred years in the past. All that he knew is not only gone, but much of it has either collapsed from time or been razed to make room for new buildings, new towns. Wutai is one of the few places in this world with still-standing structures dating back to his period."

Tifa was about to reply when rabid curses suddenly erupted from off to the right. All three glanced over to see Cid literally hopping up and down with rage, mouthing obscenities as he confronted the small laptop jury-rigged into the deactivated capsule they had taken the first SOLDIER out of earlier. The words unauthorized, illegal and passcodes were prominent in his rant and indicated he had run into something in the security system that balked his efforts.

Reeve winced at a particularly vile imprecation, shaking his head in resignation. "If only he weren't such a good pilot and computer technician," he mourned quietly as the flood of vitriol continued unabated.

"Think of him as our very profane comic relief," Aerith suggested with a grin that changed rapidly to alarm as the SOLDIER twitched slightly and gave a soft moan.

How in the world Cid could have heard such a low sound over the incredible volume of noise he was making was impossible to guess. All of a sudden he was across the room, med kit in hand as the man made another sound, this one almost a squeak or a hiccup. Without warning his eyes opened fully, the nearly violet irises ringed with that unsettling mako green stain around his pupils. He lay quiet for a long moment before his eyes finally focused, and latched onto the figure nearest him.

He blinked in surprise at the sight of Aerith sitting beside him, holding his hand so tenderly in both of hers. A dark eyebrow rose as a faint smile appeared. "Heaven?" he asked, his voice little more than a grating whisper.

The question had Tifa nearly rolling with laughter as Aerith smiled down at the stranger. "If you're asking if you have died and gone to heaven, the answer is a resounding no. I'm no angel, as my friend can well attest." She accepted the small bottle of water Cid offered, carefully slipping the straw between the man's lips and urging, "Just a little for right now. Your throat must feel like sandpaper from the sound of your voice."

Obediently he took a sip and grunted when she pulled the straw away. "Drinking too much at first could lead to cramps - you should know that already." She had to grin at the sour expression on his face as he clearly mouthed the words, Yes, mom. "Mind your manners now, son."

That had him laughing, but he ended up groaning in pain as the movement jarred muscles unused for literally centuries. The spasms had him shaking so hard it was all Cid could do to inject the mild muscle relaxer into him. "Knew he was gonna need this, so I had it ready. Didn't think I'd have to wrestle him down to get it in, though. Should take effect fairly quickly since he don't have anything in his stomach." He nodded towards the tray set up a short distance away. "Got something for that, too. Just a mild broth and watered down apple juice, but it won't overload his system."

To the four observers, it seems to take forever for the spasms to finally stop. By the time the man was once against still, his skin had taken on an ashy hue and his chest was heaving in great, gasping breaths. "Easy," Aerith said softly, once more stroking his hair in an effort to help calm him.

Showing a tenderness that was always startling to those that knew only his irascible temper, Cid propped the man up against Aerith's shoulder and proceeded to spoon the broth into his mouth, humming softly in encouragement. "That's the way, kiddo. Get some nourishment into that empty gullet of yours."

Between sips of the juice, the man rasped out, "How are the others?"

Tifa managed to beat Cid to the answer, "You're the first released." She gave the pilot a stern look to which he rolled his eyes and went back to feeding the man. "We… wanted to make sure we could handle your care before trying another chamber."

The SOLDIER was careful not to laugh again as he replied, "We're a hearty lot, we SOLDIERs. And the Turks aren't too far behind." He opened his mouth for the approaching spoon, but Cid's hand froze in place as he glanced back at Reeve.

"Turks," Reeve repeated softly. It was a name that had inspired fear and loathing centuries ago. "There are four men and a woman that don't bear any scars from the enhancement procedures. Are they Turks?" he asked carefully.

Brows furrowed, the man looked from one to the other in confusion. "You don't know who they are?" There was something incredulous in his tone, and his regard became suspicious. "Who are you people, anyway? You're not from ShinRa - you can't be with the way you're talking."

Aerith couldn't bear the thought of seeing him writhing in agony again and slid her arms around him, resting her head against his temple. "Please don't get upset again. If you'll just promise to hear us out, we'll tell you everything." She could feel the tension in his body, and his heart was pounding beneath her fingertips. There was no way for her to tell if he was afraid or angry.

"I'm listening," he finally said, his tone of voice quiet and cool. The glowing eyes were no longer fixed on the people around him, but rather trying to assess the room and its contents from where he lay.

Glancing at the others, Tifa could see that no one really knew how to start explaining and mentally sighed. Shifting to sit cross-legged beside Aerith, she told him, "It would make things easier if we knew your name."

Again he seemed surprised by their ignorance. A long moment passed before he finally said, "I'm Zack Fair, SOLDIER 1st Class. After General Sephiroth's death in Banora, I was elected the nominal leader of our forces."

"Well," Aerith said softly, "at least we started at the top." Lifting her head, she ran a gentle hand through the black, flyaway hair. "I'm Aerith, Zack. Cid is supposed to be feeding you, and Tifa is heading this expedition. Reeve is our archivist." Unable to help herself, she tightened her hold into an embrace. "And so much has happened since you entered the chambers. The problem is that we don't have a lot of answers to give you right now." She could feel how stiffly he held himself and his tension worried her.

When Zack didn't reply, Reeve cleared his throat and tried to explain, "You've been in those capsules for a very long time. Far longer than was ever intended, I think. I truly believe ShinRa did everything it could to make sure you were never discovered." Quickly, cleanly, he offered the shocking truth. "Five hundred years, Zack. That's how long we think the SOLDIERs have been hidden here. We don't know your name because ShinRa has worked frantically to destroy all traces of your existence for centuries."

Zack opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. What color his complexion had regained after the attack earlier faded away, leaving his eyes to resemble burnt holes in his face. In the silence that descended, only his ragged breathing could be heard.

Holding him so close, Aerith could almost feel the strength, the will that sustained him slipping away. Understanding was slow to penetrate her awareness, but the sudden falter in his heartbeat made her realize the shock was killing him. Zack Fair was literally dying in her arms!

The fear galvanized her. Though she and her mother rarely called on the abilities bestowed upon them by their bloodline, Aerith knew how to activate them and did so without a second thought. Pressing both hands to his chest, she closed her eyes and reached out to the world around her, opening herself up to the touch of the planet. Connection came in a rush of confusing visions and sensations, but the power necessary to save the man she held flooded through her body and passed into the SOLDIER in a blaze of golden light. Beneath her hands, she could feel Zack's heartbeat become steady and rhythmic again as his body relaxed under the onslaught of healing energy.

As the glow slowly faded, Aerith gradually emerged from her semi-trance. Such communication with the Lifestream often left her shaken, for the images conveyed to her during the healing were the memories of someone that had once lived… and died. Most of the time they were benign - giving her little flashes of the everyday life of those no longer with them.

Sometimes, however, they weren't. What she had just seen would stay with her for a long time and explained the real reason ShinRa had tried so frantically to eradicate the SOLDIERs from history.

Zack took a deep breath and let it out slowly. There was no pain in the action, and no stiffness remained in his limbs. Reaching up, his hand touched hers where they rested on his chest. There was wonder in his voice as he said, "You weren't using materia. Because of the mako in my system I can feel when it's activated near me, and that was something entirely different." Moving easily now, he released himself from her embrace and rose to his feet with fluid grace. He stood staring down at her, his expression unreadable, for several long minutes.

Then his gaze took in the room, at the damages wrought by time, the rust and dirt and vines in evidence. "So, it's true," he finally whispered. A glance down at himself produced a pained wince. His only article of clothing was a pair of black boxers. "Hm. I seem to be missing my uniform."

Something in the way he stated the obvious so calmly gave the first real hint of his personality. Tifa laughed, drawing his attention to her. "Don't worry. The view is quite excellent from my perspective," she assured him, grinning cheekily. The comment was not out of line; in her work, Tifa had seen many men stripped to the waist in deference to the heat during a dig. Zack had every one of them beat by a couple hundred miles.

The comment made Zack snort lightly as he reached up to rub at the back of his neck. It was telling that he wasn't embarrassed by his lack of attire. There was a confidence to him that said he was comfortable with what and who he was.

Reeve also rose to his feet, heading for the boxes of supplies tucked into one corner of the room. "We don't have any uniforms, but I can provide you with clothing."

Zack shook his head, making the black spikes of his hair bob and weave as he walked over the inactive chamber where Cid's laptop still rested. Reaching down, he pressed on a certain part of the inner wall and was rewarded with a resounding -click- that sounded sharply through the room. A shallow drawer slid open along the base of the capsule.

A strange, shimmering light dimmed then went out when he passed his hand over a small green globe embedded in one of the corners. The drawer contained several items - among them clothing and armor, along with a huge sword that glimmered in the illumination from the portable light stations. Grasping the hilt, he handled the immense weapon with an ease that shocked and alarmed his audience.

Feeling their sudden apprehension, he smiled reassuringly and told them, "Just greeting an old friend." Hefting the blade for just a moment longer, he then propped it up against the capsule and reached for the uniform neatly folded on top of what looked like a notebook. "Give me a minute or two to throw on this getup, then we can get down to business."

Before more could be said, Tifa's radio crackled as Barret reported in. "Base, this is Barret. Heading down to Floor 58. I got visuals of everything, and we're gonna need 'em. It's gonna take years to catalog all this mess ShinRa left behind. Barret, over."

"Barret, this is Tifa. Just keep those recorders on. I have a feeling that evidence will be needed before much longer. Tifa, out." Clipping the unit back onto her belt, she saw that Zack hadn't been kidding about only needing a couple of minutes. He was fully dressed and working to secure the arrangement of belts that fastened pauldrons onto his shoulders. "Quick work," she commented.

Looking over at her, Zack said quietly, "Training, actually." Picking up the sword again, he gave the ungainly looking blade a quick twirl over his head and slapped it against his back. There was a ringing clang of metal against metal, and when he released the hilt, the red handle remained sticking up over his right shoulder. He pulled on leather gloves, then fisted his hands at his hips and took another look around. "Five hundred years," he mused.

It was amazing what authority the uniform gave him. He might still look like the 'pretty boy' Cid accused him of being, but the outfit emphasized the excellent physique Tifa had so admired, and the weapon said louder than words this was not some wanna be pretender trying to look tough. The glowing eyes rounded out a picture of a calm, competent warrior that knew few peers.

Reeve's cell phone rang, and he quietly excused himself to answer it.

Picking up the conversation, Aerith admitted, "The SOLDIERs seemed to disappear roughly five hundred years ago. Did you go into the chambers before or after Midgar was abandoned?"

Walking over to the capsule beside his, Zack looked down at the blonde floating in the glowing mako. "Most of us decided to do this right after the reactors were dismantled. Sephiroth was dead, most of our division was either killed or captured by ShinRa" -he gave a shrug- "and one was pretty much the same as the other. With Hojo, Hollander and President ShinRa gone, Rufus had taken over the corporation and given the execution order for all SOLDIERs. There was no one we could turn to, nowhere left to run." His scowl would have been frightening had they known nothing of his personality. "Cloud here," he said, tapping the chamber he stood over, "was so badly wounded in that last battle with Sephiroth that he was in a coma. Kunsel was MIA, and Tseng's efforts to help us put him and his Turks right in Rufus' crosshairs." Scrubbing at his face, he gave a sigh. "Genesis wasn't handling why Sephiroth went insane very well and Lazard… he was in shock since everything happened so fast, without any warning. One minute we were the elite of the elite, the next hunted outlaws."

"What started everything?" Aerith asked wonderingly. She longed to wrap her arms around him and soothe, to stroke his silky flyaway hair again, but the time for that was long past.

Zack sighed as he braced his hands on the capsule and leaned in to closely study the scars marring the blonde's chest. "I think it all started rolling downhill when we discovered Hojo's secret lab in the Nibelheim Reactor. We found mako pods similar to these filled with… things. Things that looked like monsters - but smelled like humans. And his notes…" Straightening, he scrubbed at his eyes as though trying to remove the images his memory recalled. "All these case files, hundreds, thousands of them, containing details of his experiments, the successes, the failures. Reading just one of them turned my stomach inside out." His grim humor was biting, "A man used to gory battles with monsters, and a few lines from one of those reports has me hurling."

Horrified, Tifa gasped out, "Did ShinRa have anything to do with that?!"

Anger was suddenly visible in the nearly-violet eyes as he took a step towards them, "Anything to do with?! They were funding his exploits! ShinRa wanted perfect warriors to protect their vast assets, their power and privilege - and looked to Hojo and Hollander to create that for them. They gave them anything they wanted; labs, equipment, personnel, test subjects. And until the SOLDIER process was finally deemed a success, none -not one- of those test subjects willingly submitted to the treatments."

Before the women could respond to the sickening knowledge, Reeve stepped forward. His face was solemn as he informed them, "That was a representative of the Energy Council. I'm afraid they took Cid's word on the mako reactors being active, and are planning an inspection shortly. I sent them the data I accessed about the water turbine, but the fact there's any kind of viable power source in these ruins has them in quite a dither." Looking at Zack, he suggested, "We need to get the others out of those chambers as quickly as possible. When Aerith switched on the circuits, the system was seriously over-taxed. We cut everything off quickly -mainly to avoid anyone noticing the tower lights- but by that time the damage was already done. It's only a matter of time before either the computers or the turbine crashes."

"Right," Zack said immediately, jumping into action in a way that let them know he was well accustomed to command. He turned to Aerith. "Do you think you have enough energy to heal them as we pull them out? Or would that put too much of a strain on you?"

She blinked, as startled by his quick response as his complete acceptance of her abilities. Most were unsettled enough by her healing talents to avoid her once exposed. "Um…" she hesitated. "Give me just a minute." Bowing her head, she cautiously opened herself up. Once contact was established, she got a repeat of those horrific images again, but determinedly pushed them aside. It was never easy to communicate with the world, since she was only half Cetra, but she tried to pose the question in such a way that the planet would understand what she needed.

To her surprise, she received the answer almost immediately as a shimmering green light seemed to envelope the room.

Zack whirled around, frantically jumping backwards as Cloud's capsule opened without warning. The mako inside evaporated into a rapidly thinning mist as the needles in his arms fell free. Though he was shocked by what was happening, Zack still recovered quicker than the others in the room. Reaching in, he yanked off the oxygen mask and scooped Cloud up. Bending down, he laid him in Aerith's waiting arms, watching anxiously as she placed her hands on his chest and concentrated.

Nothing happened.

Opening her eyes, Aerith looked down at the blonde in confusion. "He's… already healed himself somehow," she said incredulously, laying a hand on the side of his face. Was he…? How could he, especially since he wasn't an Ancient…? Aerith was too confused by the circumstances to hazard a guess.

His ash blonde hair, pale skin and facial features gave him a decidedly angelic appearance. That was strengthened when his eyes slowly drifted open to reveal tropical ocean blue irises, also stained with mako green like Zack's. The color was so saturated it was almost a shock to behold. Cloud's gaze was unfocused as he stared blindly up at the ceiling, and they were all startled when he said in a soft, strangely echoing voice, "She's still here."

Even as Zack went down on one knee beside him, Reeve's cell phone rang again.

Snatching it out of his pocket, he snapped out, "Reeve." The voice on the other end was an indecipherable babble that had his eyes going wide and his jaw dropping. "WHAT!?" Pacing in circles in agitation, he rapped out sharply, "Who told you that?!" Several more jerky steps and he demanded, "They're what?!" The babble continued for several minutes before he swore venomously and ended the call.

Tifa stepped towards him, "What is it, Reeve?" she asked, nervously wringing her hands. Unlike Cid, Reeve rarely displayed temper of any kind and the man practically had flames shooting out of his ears.

Before he could answer, Cloud said in that otherworldly tone, "We are betrayed from within."

Though he did a double-take at the words, Reeve shrugged it off as he pocketed the phone. "Actually, he's right. Someone informed the Coalition we've made an important -and very dangerous- discovery in these ruins. That was Yuffie's father, Godo, calling to warn us before the Council descends. He also said the executors are trying their level best to cancel our expedition into the tower by filing motions and injunctions left and right," Reeve informed them, eyes narrowed in anger.

"Executors?" Zack asked curiously.

Tifa irritably snatched up a branch from the floor and tossed it across the room to vent her ire. "The company handling the ShinRa estate. The line died out about six years ago, which is why we're finally getting to explore this tower. We had to fight them tooth and nail before this expedition was approved."

All were startled when Zack suddenly started laughing. "Oh, that's just too perfect!"

"What are you talking about, Zack?" Aerith asked him, looking a little worried.

Without warning, the steady hum from the capsules suddenly dropped, and the lights on the computer panels dimmed slightly before returning to normal.

"First things first," Tifa said, gesturing towards the center of the room. "We have to get them out of there. Recall the teams to help us, Cid. Reeve, Aerith; get the supplies ready." Both scrambled to obey as the lights blinked before slowly brightening again.

When she would have turned away, Zack reached out and gently took hold of her arm. "And what would you have me do?"

Thinking the situation over, she finally pointed to Cloud, who was now sitting up with his back resting against his chamber. "See if you can get anything else out of him." She hesitated, then admitted, "I've heard that weird echoing tone before in conjunction with the unfocused eyes. He's acting like Aerith when she's connected to the planet." And Tifa had to wonder why Aerith hadn't said anything. Could she feel if someone was in contact with the world? Surely she could sense when her mother was communicating with the planet.

Zack did a little echoing of his own when he repeated in confusion, "Connected to the… planet?"

"I don't have time to explain right now, just see what you can do." Hearing the screech of the lift, she headed over to put whoever was arriving to work.

-‚¬ƒ-

They were ready to begin before Cloud spoke again. Over the past hour his gaze had gradually sharpened, but he still moved as though he were sleepwalking. He was just mobile enough to dress with some help from Zack.

Reeve was surprised that Cloud's uniform, although similar in style to Zack's, was a different color and had other accessories and accoutrements. Somehow he had thought their outfits would be the same. His weapon was like Zack's in the overall shape and size, but with all the hinges and ports, Reeve suspected it could be separated into different sections.

As the black-haired SOLDIER fastened the pauldron with its snarling wolf insignia over Cloud's left shoulder, the blonde looked up at him and said solemnly, "We were deceived. Rayleigh belonged to ShinRa."

Blinking, Zack backed up and stammered out, "What? Why? How?" Getting a hold of himself, he asked in a quiet tone, "How would you know that, Cloud?"

He hadn't told anyone but Tseng of his plans to message Dr. Rayleigh with their location before going into stasis. Though she was an employee of ShinRa, and the surgeon in many of their enhancement procedures, she had displayed both compassion and integrity - two traits Hojo knew nothing of. His reasoning for the decision was her knowledge: Should anything go wrong with the stasis process itself, she would know how to save them. That had been particularly important with the Turks, who didn't have the SOLDIERs' endurance or accelerated healing abilities.

But Cloud's answer certainly wasn't very informative as he replied in that dreamy tone, "I was told."

Aerith took hold of his arm and gently turned him. Resting her hands on his shoulders, she told him sternly, "Cloud, you need to disconnect. It's dangerous to stay in such close contact with the planet for a long time. Its knowledge is too myriad, too vast for a human mind to handle."

Cloud shook his head. There was still no expression on his face as he said hollowly, "Too many threats surround us. She's still here." Before he could explain further, his eyes rolled back in his head and he went down in a heap. Zack caught him, and looked up at Aerith in mute appeal.

"I can't help him until he severs the connection," she reluctantly told him, unable to stop herself this time as she ran a hand over his silky black hair to comfort him.

Despite the evident self-confidence of the SOLDIER, the familiarity of the caress caused Zack to blush faintly.

She couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry, but you were mine to take care of for nearly two hours. I suppose I could blame it on mom genes," she said speculatively, head tilted to one side in a decidedly flirty fashion. "But that's not the truth, is it?"

There was something in her eyes that startled Zack. All teasing aside -and he was the type to use that method to relieve tension as well- he recognized that haunted look. She possessed unwelcome knowledge, and it somehow had to do with the SOLDIERs.

"We're ready!" Tifa abruptly called from across the room, motioning for Aerith to get a move on.

"Coming!" she replied, and hurried over after giving Cloud one last, anxious glance.

Zack was left staring down at his friend, wondering if he had the courage to ask what she'd seen when she healed him…

-‚¬ƒ-

"This should never have happened," the man said angrily into the phone. "Why was permission granted for the expedition at all? We paid good money to keep Lockhart out of that blasted tower!"

The voice on the other end of the line was an irritating buzz, "Godo Kisaragi decided to get involved when his daughter signed onto the team, apparently. His name, combined with both Lockhart and Gainsborough, made the Coalition step in. Once they saw how many petitions had been filed and denied, and the huge number of grants promised to the archeologists, they over-rode the court's decision and gave them a month to explore."

The whine in the informant's tone grated. "And you didn't think to warn us before it was too late? All that money wasted, when a simple call could have avoided this situation. I will not soon forget this," he promised darkly.

"But… but, sir… I…" the informant stammered.

Leaning forward, the man said ominously, "Get me whatever reports have been filed. Lockhart is famous for keeping detailed records throughout her explorations, and I want them. What's in that tower could very well destroy the ShinRa legacy forever, and I will not allow that to happen." He listened to the terrified yammering of his weasel and smiled grimly.

One way or the other, he would salvage the situation to his satisfaction. And the SOLDIERs would die, as they should have five hundred years ago when they betrayed the cooperation. The ShinRa clan was no more, but they would have their revenge.

Not matter what it took to accomplish…