[ The closer he gets to the climax of the tale, the harder it is to continue. He pauses, drawing a breath. It seems harder, right now. Like the story itself is trying to choke him to death. His eyes meet hers, briefly, the luminescent green of mako gleaming in the firelight, almost eclipsing any of his natural blue. ]

...When we got there, Sephiroth had made it plain — don't speak to anyone about what we were going to find. And despite being such an old reactor, it was still drawing Mako at full steam. Not like the other older reactors.

It turns out it was being used for... experiments. Test subjects of Hojo's, infused with mako on a cellular level. Animals. Monsters.

Humans. Or they were, once upon a time. They didn't look anything like you or me.

And the door to the reactor's core had a single name engraved overtop it. [ He lets himself say the word after a pause. He needs to get this right. He's the only one who can. ]

"Jenova". On the way to Nibelheim, Sephiroth had said that was his mother's name. I don't... know if he knew.