Guilt’s Cost: Part LXXXIII

Induction

Tifa had collapsed into a heap on the floor where she had been standing when she kicked Cloud. Her head was resting on her arms as she sobbed to herself. Vincent’s screams had finally stopped, and she feared that he was dead.

Cloud remained slouched in the chair, his computerized brain not fully capable of controlling his body beyond life functions. Hojo would have to invest several hours of work in order to get him functioning properly again.

Tifa picked her head up and stared toward the door. She heard someone coming and knew it was Hojo from the uneven pace of his steps. If he confirmed her fear that Vincent was dead she would attack him with every last ounce of her being.

Hojo opened the door slowly; not certain what he would find inside after the shouted threats and claims Tifa had made during Vincent’s amputation. He spotted her lying on the floor not too far away. "Mrs. Valentine, are your sedatives finally kicking in?"

Thanks to her adrenaline rush from Vincent’s cries, the drugs he had given her a while earlier had produced no effect. But now as she lay still, she was beginning to feel something. "What did you do to him? Is he dead?"

Hojo smiled kindly and shook his head. "No, Mrs. Valentine. He isn’t dead. I was just freeing him of that troublesome right arm of his."

Tifa’s jaw fell open, and she failed to find any words. She realized that Hojo had preformed the operation with Vincent awake. What he must have gone through she could only imagine.

Hojo saw her terror and was pleased. He turned his attention to Cloud still sitting in a rather awkward position. "Mr. Strife, can you stand?"

Cloud did not respond in the least. He hadn’t even been able to blink for the last few minutes and his eyes gazed icily into space.

"Oh dear." Hojo sighed and hung his head. "What have you done, Mrs. Valentine? Abandoning Cloud was bad enough, but now you seem to have caused him physical harm. You are not a very nice lady. What’s worse is that Vincent is going to have to pay for this little stunt."

"Don’t you dare!" Tifa struggled up to her feet, feeling a little unsteady as the sedatives continued to work on her.

Hojo furrowed his brow and scowled. This was not the time for her to grow defiant. The time for the surgery to harvest her eggs had arrived. "You will give me your complete obedience starting this very moment or I will go in there and start removing the skin from his face. You don’t want that now do you?"

Tifa gasped, her desperation to spare Vincent from anymore pain obvious. "Please leave him alone!"

"I will if you cooperate." Hojo reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. "I will unchain you, but don’t you dare try anything. I am sure that you noticed the other day that your little physical attack on me had no effect. Save your energy for your recovery."

Tifa visibly trembled as he stooped down to unlatch the shackle from her ankle. She fought desperately the urge to kick him in the face while he was down like that, knowing that it would most likely cost Vincent his life.

Hojo straightened back up, pleased at her submission. "Good, Mrs. Valentine. Now follow me."

He turned and walked from the room. Tifa followed him slowly, pulled along by her fear of what might happen if she attempted to flee. He led her to the main room of the lab. In the center of the room was placed a surgical table flanked by an anesthetic machine and lapraoscopy unit. An acne-ridden man stood next to the scene, brought in to help the scientist with the procedure.

Hojo reached the side of the table and turned to Tifa. "Strip."

She stared back at him with tears in her eyes, hoping that she had misunderstood him. "What?"

"Remove your clothing, Mrs. Valentine." Hojo pushed his glasses up his nose. "I cannot perform the operation through your clothes."

Tifa found herself temporarily unable to respond. With the trauma of rape still fresh in her mind she was paralyzed with fear.

"Now, Mrs. Valentine!" Hojo’s voice took on a commanding edge. He was eager to get underway with the egg collection.

She jumped as he shouted at her and slowly began to pull her shirt over her head. These men weren’t looking at her as doctors would as she shed her outfit; they were looking at her like lustful men.

Her garments hit the floor one at a time, and once she was completely bare she stood there, trying to hide herself away from their gazes with her hands. Inside she was dying of shame and terror. She had no idea what was in store for her and tears were burning her eyes.

Hojo motioned to the surgical table. "Come and lay here."

She hung her head and went forward, not looking either of the two men in the eye as she went. Tifa sat upon the edge of the table, feeling the cold steel of the thing under the thin sheet they had put down for her.

"Lay down and outstretch your left arm." Hojo hissed.

Again she silently obeyed. Once on her back she stared up at the surgery lights overhead, having to squint in their intensity. She felt the unknown man begin to prep her arm for an I.V. line. Tifa closed her eyes wishing to disappear. Her outright horror kept her from feeling much as the catheter was slid into her vein and taped in.

The unnamed stranger nodded. "The line is in. Should I induce her?"

Hojo had turned and started to mess with the laprascope. "Go ahead. Knock her out with the propofol and then get her on the iso."

These words meant nothing more than increased fear for Tifa. She looked over to spot the anesthesiologist pick up a large syringe filled with some milky white solution. He connected it to the port of her I.V. line and started to inject it into her. Within thirty seconds her world began to spin, as an odd tasted filled her mouth. A few seconds later she lost consciousness.