[Giving only a nod of his head at that gratitude, accepting it for what sincerity it holds, Itachi's mind fixates on that latter statement. Shinra, again, the entity at fault for twisting up Sephiroth's world and concealing the truth. The thread of vengeance isn't foreign to him, although he can't share it — that feeling belongs to Sephiroth alone.]
Are you the only one Shinra has impacted in this way, or are there others?
[It would help to know the extent of wrongdoing. His mind naturally drifts toward the only equivalent he can draw: Akatsuki. But even they don't boast the same capability Sephiroth has described.]
Do those from your world that are here feel the same toward Shinra?
[Questions both with laughably easy answers, though not particularly simple. The faces of those from Gaia flash across his mind, one by one, each affected by Shinra in their own way, each wronged by the megacorporation’s greed, their secrecy, their corrupt desire for power. For so long, he had never seen Shinra’s influence as a stranglehold over the Planet; he believed that AVALACHE’s claims of its corruption was the result of zealotry, extremism overblown. The original group’s violent nature had only aided that notion.
Now, the lies have dissipated, one by one. And his once-gilded ignorance has been wiped clean in equal measure, something that should feel more freeing than suffocating, surely. Someday, maybe.]
There are others. Ask any of those from my Planet, and they can give you their grievances. An old friend detained and experimented on, then gunned down by the very army he had been loyal to for years. Another also treated in a similar manner, joining an eco-terrorism group to quell Shinra’s draining of Gaia’s resources. Its very lifeblood, keeping the city of Midgar running.
[One can imagine the level of influence such a business would hold — political, socioeconomic, military. Shinra was Midgar.]
The woman I mentioned, she was detained in a laboratory when she was young as well. Shinra sought the use of her unique heritage, and of course they believed throwing her to the science department was the most expedient way of doing so. All for their own gain. She smiles often, but I imagine she had lost much in those years.
[Her mother, no doubt. Sephiroth deigns not to go too deeply into any of it.]
I have... had other friends, too, affected by the company’s experimentation. One’s body is failing him, degrading slowly over time. The other is dead, slain after transforming into a monster.
[He’s sure the point is made.]
To them, people are tools to be used. Little more than that.
[If not for all else he's come to learn of Sephiroth these past few months, as well as the man's honesty and general demeanor, he might take these words with more caution and skepticism. It's the certainty—and the vast number of stories described—that coaxes Itachi into believing what he's told. Still, there's such complexity to it he can't hope to grasp without a direct experience of this world. Gaia.
It makes him curious enough to wonder what it would be like. Visiting, seeing the place where Sephiroth came from, however twisted it might be.
It isn't as though he's a stranger to such corruption.]
The woman you mentioned, then she is another Mirrorbound? [It's less question than confirmation.] I see. A wonder that one singular entity could maintain so much control, but if it's as you say, and they maintain that hold over all resources...
[It would make sense. They stand in a position of power.]
Some parallels exist in my own world, but they're most often isolated to agents acting on their own. [Orochimaru comes to mind, briefly.] It sounds as though you'll have plenty of allies against Shinra, should that day come. Are there any individuals you're personally familiar with in the organization? It may also be possible they'll arrive here.
[That woman — Aerith — had illuminated the truth as well as Cloud. But she, too, had known Shinra as an invasive force in her life and the Planet as a whole. Her heritage ensured both.]
I know many from Shinra. It’s impossible to not grow accustomed to the faces of those who run the company. President Shinra and his son; their loyal Turks, those who do the company’s dirty work.
[And Itachi too will be keeping an eye out for the appearance of those aligned with Shinra—as well as anyone else from Sephiroth's strange world. It does make him wonder at the logic behind the selection of individuals brought here.
He falls silent in the wake of that proclamation nevertheless. Final and foreboding. They've shared so much in this conversation that, for a moment looking out at the ocean, he's surprised at himself for the vulnerability. Yet Sephiroth has never been difficult to speak to.
For now, at least, they're left to their own thoughts.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Are you the only one Shinra has impacted in this way, or are there others?
[It would help to know the extent of wrongdoing. His mind naturally drifts toward the only equivalent he can draw: Akatsuki. But even they don't boast the same capability Sephiroth has described.]
Do those from your world that are here feel the same toward Shinra?
unseals can of worms
Now, the lies have dissipated, one by one. And his once-gilded ignorance has been wiped clean in equal measure, something that should feel more freeing than suffocating, surely. Someday, maybe.]
There are others. Ask any of those from my Planet, and they can give you their grievances. An old friend detained and experimented on, then gunned down by the very army he had been loyal to for years. Another also treated in a similar manner, joining an eco-terrorism group to quell Shinra’s draining of Gaia’s resources. Its very lifeblood, keeping the city of Midgar running.
[One can imagine the level of influence such a business would hold — political, socioeconomic, military. Shinra was Midgar.]
The woman I mentioned, she was detained in a laboratory when she was young as well. Shinra sought the use of her unique heritage, and of course they believed throwing her to the science department was the most expedient way of doing so. All for their own gain. She smiles often, but I imagine she had lost much in those years.
[Her mother, no doubt. Sephiroth deigns not to go too deeply into any of it.]
I have... had other friends, too, affected by the company’s experimentation. One’s body is failing him, degrading slowly over time. The other is dead, slain after transforming into a monster.
[He’s sure the point is made.]
To them, people are tools to be used. Little more than that.
OH BOY
It makes him curious enough to wonder what it would be like. Visiting, seeing the place where Sephiroth came from, however twisted it might be.
It isn't as though he's a stranger to such corruption.]
The woman you mentioned, then she is another Mirrorbound? [It's less question than confirmation.] I see. A wonder that one singular entity could maintain so much control, but if it's as you say, and they maintain that hold over all resources...
[It would make sense. They stand in a position of power.]
Some parallels exist in my own world, but they're most often isolated to agents acting on their own. [Orochimaru comes to mind, briefly.] It sounds as though you'll have plenty of allies against Shinra, should that day come. Are there any individuals you're personally familiar with in the organization? It may also be possible they'll arrive here.
no subject
[That woman — Aerith — had illuminated the truth as well as Cloud. But she, too, had known Shinra as an invasive force in her life and the Planet as a whole. Her heritage ensured both.]
I know many from Shinra. It’s impossible to not grow accustomed to the faces of those who run the company. President Shinra and his son; their loyal Turks, those who do the company’s dirty work.
If any arrive, I won’t hesitate to confront them.
no subject
He falls silent in the wake of that proclamation nevertheless. Final and foreboding. They've shared so much in this conversation that, for a moment looking out at the ocean, he's surprised at himself for the vulnerability. Yet Sephiroth has never been difficult to speak to.
For now, at least, they're left to their own thoughts.]