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[supersoldier]

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[detao]

( Sephiroth has always had a cold edge to him, even before the madness took him. Tseng, however, does not think he's dealing with Jenova. )

No. After all, your mother is not here, and whatever pieces of her you brought are not enough to subdue this world.

[supersoldier]

[Tseng is right, as he often is. This is a Sephiroth before the weight of a misinterpreted truth wedged itself into his mind and shattered it into delusional fragments.

Even what the other Turk refers to is so beyond Sephiroth’s intent; beyond, even, his clear understanding of what that far into the future holds. As his response may make obvious—]

Do not refer to that thing as my mother.

[To be precisely, unerringly clear.]

So is that your expectation of me? To subdue this world in my anger? I have already spoken to your President; I assume you come from a timeframe close to his own, and that your reservations are similar.

[detao]

( He'll take the sting, verbally over physically. Tseng remembers well the injury obtained at the Temple of the Ancients. It wasn't the first time one of the elite maimed him, and while he's here, he's certainly hoping it will be the last. Well, in any case, if he goes home again, he'll not have to worry about Sephiroth. What awaits him on Gaia is the ruin in Sephiroth's wake. The Turks did their best, Rufus did his best, but still, the casualties staggered them all. Even Cloud's posse and the original AVALANCHE would have hoped for better. Kalm's small-town took many of the refuges. Tseng was in between the two cities before having arrived here.

The wound was still gaping, and Tseng's discovery of not only Sephiroth's presence but that of Aerith, of Zack, kept the blood flowing from the open sore that his Full Cure materia could not mend. Sephiroth, at this point, was a victim of Shinra, not exclusively to Rufus or even his father, but to the collaborative minds that created him. Lucrecia, Hojo, Gast.. Did the former president even understand what was happening? Sephiroth does not deserve any hostility from Tseng. He recognizes this, and he responds with the foundation of this in mind. )

What has been done cannot be undone. In this world, may you find the fulfillment you seek, and may it be kinder than that which you found on Gaia.

[supersoldier]

I don’t need your well-wishes, nor do I want them. Your assumption is hinging on the fact that I have no interest in returning to our Planet.

[And while his feelings are complicated on the matter, still trying to take shape in the midst of the actual truth having been revealed to him, they are not something he will share so openly with those from his home world — those associated with Shinra, even less so.

Tseng might feel like Sephiroth deserves no real hostility; Sephiroth cannot extend that same courtesy, his bitterness acrid on his tongue.]

What am I to expect from you and yours here?

[detao]

( Well-wishes? Tseng would be lying to himself if he were to say he was expecting something else other than hostility. Still, considering all that Sephiroth has done - and will do when he returns to Gaia, it was a lot for the Turk to offer well-wishes. He takes a moment before responding. He can feel disdain rise thickly in his throat and settle there at the back of his mouth. It leaves him with a foul taste and an unbecoming expression.

Tseng needs a moment's reprieve in preparation to answer diplomatically rather than with invested emotion, spitefully, or congenially. )

I have no personal intentions to pursue any further contact with you.

[supersoldier]

[Well and good, perhaps. However, he wonders if such a sentiment extends all the way around.]

And Rufus Shinra’s intentions?

[Which will be the most prevalent of the two.]

[detao]

( Tseng deduces that has not been discussed between the two of them. Which is why Sephiroth is asking him about this. In any case, Rufus had no involvement with Sephiroth's creation and would likely leave well enough alone here, especially given the mindset Sephiroth is in now. However, Tseng is loyal to Rufus' rule. )

To live comfortably here.

( He's quite certain that says enough about Rufus' Shinra's intention with Sephiroth. Stirring the general's feathers was not going to bode well for comfort. )

[supersoldier]

[It is strange to imagine Rufus Shinra, in all his grand ambition, to simply be content with living on a foreign planet and to neglect the responsibilities of a company that Sephiroth believes he left behind. But years have passed for the other man, where it has not for him — things have changed, in ways that he cannot hope to know, not quite yet.

Even so. He wonders just how true Tseng’s statement is, or will be.]

I find it difficult to believe that he will be content resting on his laurels. You cannot believe that completely either.

[detao]

( Tseng huffs through his nostrils. His head moves into half a roll then back again. He rolls his shoulders as well. Rufus doesn't quite have a throne here, Tseng reflects, but all the same - even if he did have a small army, this world did not belong to any of them. Coming after Sephiroth for whatever purpose would be ill-advised. Tseng doesn't believe Rufus has any stock in Sephiroth, not here and not now. If Sephiroth's status changes in the future, then perhaps, there would be an investment worth accumulating from the perfect soldier.

Tseng can't reason the value in pursuing the rogue general.

However, perhaps Sephiroth means in a more general term. Rufus does not intend to idle, there's too much to learn, and they need to find something to invest in if they expect to grow to their usual standards of comfort and power. )

A certain amount of familiarity will facilitate a sense of comfort. The rest will come through labor and investment.

All endeavors that have no foreseeable reason to do with you.

[supersoldier]

[That aligns closer to what he expected. “Labor and investment” to facilitate comfort where familiarity could not. Shinra’s propensity to grease its shrewd business wheels and palms. There’s mild satisfaction in knowing some things remain the same, woefully so, when so much of Gaia has apparently changed in the years beyond what he knows.]

We will see, won’t we?

[A beat, and then:]

I need to know something, however.

[detao]

What is it?

[supersoldier]

Did you know about Jenova before Nibelheim?

[detao]

No.

[supersoldier]

[Though there is not an answer that would completely appease Sephiroth, that is the closest in this moment. If the other man isn’t strategically lying about it, or course.]

So even Shinra’s most faithful, left in the dark.

[detao]

Shinra's different divisions have their own closets to bury their skeletons.

[supersoldier]

Yet that is a particularly large skeleton to keep buried between departments.

[detao]

Perhaps even the foundation in which all of Shinra's closets were built on.

[supersoldier]

And yet your sense of duty to the company seems as steadfast as ever. What does that say about you, Tseng?

[Perhaps that's an unfair comparison, given that Sephiroth was far more affected by that particular Calamity-shaped skeleton hidden in Shinra's belly. But he is dissatisfied, and angry, and still wheeling in his own mind. It is hard to hold back the bite in his words.]

[detao]

Whatever you think it says about me won't be quelled by my answer.

[supersoldier]

Answer it anyway.

[detao]

Not my division.

[supersoldier]

And therefore beyond the boundaries of your moral concern.

You're correct. An unsatisfying answer.

[detao]

Any other disappointing messages you'll have from me?

[supersoldier]

No.

We're done here.

[detao]

Until next time, then.