Chapter Text
“You can’t do this to me!” Hojo all but screamed as he threw the cardstock paper onto the desk. Somehow it slid with perfect precision to end up in front of President Shinra, the gold letters giving its message a false image of congratulations. “Letting me go?”
President Shinra took out his cigar and narrowed his eyes at the scientist. “Are you saying I can’t do what I want within my company?”
“Oh please,” Hojo didn’t even bother hiding his sneer. How dare the man try to be intimidating with his abysmal understanding of what made his company great. Of course such a lesser man would think he had all the power. “I am the only one who knows how to keep your precious Soldier project going.”
Hojo had made sure of that one. On the rare occasion an assistant seemed to have even a hint of understanding of how the formula worked, they found themselves... exploring the Lifestream. Or being used to further science in a much better capacity then attempting to understand his, Hojo’s, brilliant work on Soldier. The only one who came close that he couldn’t touch was Hollander but the man was fumbling like a blind rat in bright light. Inferior in every way. Amusing enough to let him live with the benefit of pushing all Hojo’s failed projects on the fool and watch him attempt to succeed.
“Ah,” Shinra leaned back with a smirk. “That is no longer the case. Your replacement knows intimately how your work in Soldier goes scientifically. My advisors say that it’s his personal experience on what Soldier is that is of value. He answered all the questions correctly and shows he can keep Soldier running even with the change in... uh, management.”
Hojo narrowed his eyes, mind scrambling through the list of 400 underlings working in his department. Unless... his eyes flickered briefly to the tall shadow next to Shinra, finally deciding the Turk was worth acknowledging. It was possible the Turks were trying something... but they shouldn’t have any reason to do so, he was absolutely certain of it. Still... Soldier wasn’t the project that he was most focused on, just the one that would keep Shinra satisfied. Another fool. Speaking of which,
“What about the rest of my projects? The Promise Land?”
“He’s shown himself knowledgeable enough to take over everything that you have, Hojo.” Shinra’s smile was one of a predator. “Whether you get to keep anything would be entirely up to him.”
“What?” Hojo hissed in shock, staring at the man. “Knowledgeable enough to take over all my projects?”
At least the known ones. There were several that Hojo hadn’t bothered to tell the man, had made sure to keep the records on files and databases separated from Shinra’s network. There was no hope that Shinra would come close to understanding anything, content to follow drivel fairy tales such as the unbelievable *Promise Land*. Useful idiot, but inferior all the same. How would he possibly know that anyone could possibly understand Hojo’s work?
“He has three Master Class certifications from Midgar’s top learning centers, two more then you have Hojo. And apparently he passed at the top of his class with excellent marks for rate of success and safety.” Shinra obviously took delight in that tidbit of information. “Not to mention my PR department says that with him in position, we can start publishing about our science progress again and within a year, whatever he says the public will accept as truth.”
“Not to mention the Turks would no longer have to deal with five assassination attempts per month.” The Turk next to Shinra spoke up. “He would also need less security to defend him, if any at all. Anything that requires strength or manpower the Soldier department would probably be able to provide without issue.”
Shinra gestured with his cigar towards the Turk in agreement. As if that alone was worth replacing Hojo. Idiots, all of them.
“I demand to know who my replacement is!” He snapped, slamming both hands down on the extravagant desk. “If I am to be replaced I demand to know who you think could even match my competence.”
“Of course,” Shinra purred. He leaned forward and picked up his phone, pressing the button for his secretary. “Percilla, love, please send in Professor Hojo.”
“What?” Hojo shrieked. “Is this a joke to you?”
“That’s President Shinra, Hojo.” The Turk said sharply, stepping forward. Shinra raised a hand and like the obedient hound he was, the Turk stopped.
“It’s alright, Tseng.” Shinra said as he settled into his chair, pulling on his cigar. “There’s obviously some family issues going on, we should be considerate.”
Hojo didn’t know what to make of that, standing there staring at the two men. Before he could even formulate a hypothesis on what genetic disorder both of them could have shared, the door to the President’s office opened up. He spun around, vitriol already rolling off his tongue.
“If you think your Shiva spawned idiocy is actually going to get you anywhere in my department--Sephiroth?” Hojo, for once in his life, found his words strangling to a stop as the towering Specimen-S strode into the office, still outfitted in its typical attire that it had started wearing soon after being granted status among the Soldier ranks. It had unexpectedly caused an unusual amount of trouble for Hojo in trying to continue some of his tests, forcing him to be more selective in where and what he tested. How he detested having to take in the reactions of other departments, bowing to lesser beings reluctance to fully embrace science and all its glory.
“Please, Mr. Shinra. If I am to have a Science Division title, I prefer the proper use of ‘Doctor’.” Sephiroth stated smoothly, ignoring Hojo for the time being. “Professor was used at the academies for those who are no longer active in their fields of work.”
President Shinra snorted, sending up a cloud of blue curling smoke. “We’ll be sure to get that changed before your-”
“Sephiroth!” Hojo snapped and took pleasure at seeing the twitch in the specimen’s shoulders, small as it was. Good, he still held power over it, as things should be. “Stop this idiotic play at... at ‘doctor’, this minute!”
There was another twitch in the shoulders, the hands, before the Specimen turned to face Hojo, staring down at him with its bright green eyes. Ah, beautiful eyes granted to it by Jenova. “This is not idiotic, Hojo. I am only doing the best for the company. Shouldn’t the most competent person be in position, free of keeping one in position purely for sentimental reasons?”
“Are you disputing with me?” Hojo hissed softly, taking pleasure again in the minute twitch, the almost motion of the Specimen looking away. “I can’t believe you think you are prepared to do even half of what I’ve done.”
“You are constantly telling me that I am the pinnacle of your work, how I was born out of your genius.” Sephiroth said evenly if a bit stiffly. Except... was there a gleam of emotion in its eyes there? Emotion that Hojo thought he had trained out of the Specimen. “Isn’t it the greatest pride of all fathers to have their children excel in their field of work?”
Hojo could only gape at that, feeling a throbbing vein pulse in his forehead. The ungrateful Specimen! He would have to show it that it could not get away with this final act of rebellion. It always showed reluctance in Hojo’s work and it thought it could take over his work? Tomorrow it would know that it would never go half as far as Hojo would for science! Tomorrow it would bleed r-
“Well!” Shinra folded his hands together as he leaned forward. “I think we have finished all that needs to be done. Hojo, you are officially being released from Shinra Electrical Company. You may reapply to another position within two weeks. Sephiroth here will be taking over as of tomorrow, I don’t want this to delay any of our ongoing Soldier treatments.”
“That’s-what-you!” Hojo stuttered in outrage, eyes darting between the Specimen and Shinra. Sephiroth flexed its shoulders, as if settling a weight before speaking up.
“I will taking charge of all your projects with Shinra and I expect the office to be cleared of all your personal belongings and papers by 0600 tomorrow, Professor. I will have the Turks offer you escort out of the building but from there you will need to pay for any additional security arrangements. Any attempt to take Shinra property or science knowledge outside the building will result in the severest legal repercussions.”
“You don’t order me!” Hojo snarled, taking a step towards the Specimen. The next instant the Turk was sliding between him and the Specimen, dark eyes hard. Hojo pulled up short and struggled to pull himself together. His mind spun the various calculations and reluctantly he knew he had to accept the short-term loss in order to succeed in the long term.
Fools! Idiots! Heretics!
“Traitors!” Hojo shrieked at them, hand itching to dive for the holster under his coat. But no... no. He still had his Nibelheim lab, he had time to put it under his legal ownership and erase any data of his work from Shinra’s computers. His precious JENOVA would help him show everyone what a mistake they had made. He clenched his hand into a fist and with one last snarl he spun on his heel and bolted out the room, slamming the door closed with all his might.