Sephiroth knows no good will come from telling Cloud that it was Zack who was with him in the basement, Zack who came to find him. That Cloud was there, technically, but with very minimal contact with Sephiroth of any kind until the actual reactor, and that Sephiroth had never seen Cloud in the Nibel manor whatsoever. It will at best only confuse Cloud further, and at worst he'll just assume it's lies.
Besides, ultimately, the little details aren't important to the big picture.
"Jenova is...a virus. An intelligent hivemind of a virus. The ShinRa experiment that created me, made me as powerful as I am...I was injected with Jenova before I was even born. Much of my abilities come from it, not from any innate power or talent of my own." His gaze slides away from Cloud. "When my mind broke...the virus that had always been a dormant part of me took over. There wasn't enough left of me that was whole to oppose it. I still looked like myself, the way an ant riddled with parasites may still look like an ant...but that was where the similarities ended. And once Jenova had control...it took the vessel Hojo had created for it, and it did what a virus is meant to do. Spread itself to others...and kill anything extraneous to its natural imperatives."
He meets Cloud's gaze. "In the reactor, where 'I' spoke of seeing my mother...all I was then was a viral outpost, reuniting with the source of the virus hivemind. I, as a person...I had a human mother. But the Jenova in me...seeing the creature in the tank, to it, must indeed have been like a child finally reuniting with its mother. A scout, returning to home base."
He closes his eyes. "And you know that, in a sense, I never died. Jenova again. The part of me that was human died, but a virus like Jenova isn't so easily destroyed. It persists still, in the Lifestream, in Hojo's experiments with its cells. Wherever it can. And it will likely continue to use my form as its chosen face, until it finds another it prefers more." His eyes bore into Cloud. "Who do you think the body in that tank was, if not Jenova's host before me? Who did she used to be, thousands of years ago? How much does it matter now? All she is now, all anyone knows her as now, is Jenova. Perhaps that was her name once, and now...all her name means is the virus that destroyed her." His voice falls a bit quieter. "Such will be my fate as well."
For so many, 'Sephiroth' is synonymous with the deeds of Jenova. The distinction may matter to a few individuals, but to history...Sephiroth is the virus. The plague on humanity. The calamity from the skies. His legacy, forever.
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Besides, ultimately, the little details aren't important to the big picture.
"Jenova is...a virus. An intelligent hivemind of a virus. The ShinRa experiment that created me, made me as powerful as I am...I was injected with Jenova before I was even born. Much of my abilities come from it, not from any innate power or talent of my own." His gaze slides away from Cloud. "When my mind broke...the virus that had always been a dormant part of me took over. There wasn't enough left of me that was whole to oppose it. I still looked like myself, the way an ant riddled with parasites may still look like an ant...but that was where the similarities ended. And once Jenova had control...it took the vessel Hojo had created for it, and it did what a virus is meant to do. Spread itself to others...and kill anything extraneous to its natural imperatives."
He meets Cloud's gaze. "In the reactor, where 'I' spoke of seeing my mother...all I was then was a viral outpost, reuniting with the source of the virus hivemind. I, as a person...I had a human mother. But the Jenova in me...seeing the creature in the tank, to it, must indeed have been like a child finally reuniting with its mother. A scout, returning to home base."
He closes his eyes. "And you know that, in a sense, I never died. Jenova again. The part of me that was human died, but a virus like Jenova isn't so easily destroyed. It persists still, in the Lifestream, in Hojo's experiments with its cells. Wherever it can. And it will likely continue to use my form as its chosen face, until it finds another it prefers more." His eyes bore into Cloud. "Who do you think the body in that tank was, if not Jenova's host before me? Who did she used to be, thousands of years ago? How much does it matter now? All she is now, all anyone knows her as now, is Jenova. Perhaps that was her name once, and now...all her name means is the virus that destroyed her." His voice falls a bit quieter. "Such will be my fate as well."
For so many, 'Sephiroth' is synonymous with the deeds of Jenova. The distinction may matter to a few individuals, but to history...Sephiroth is the virus. The plague on humanity. The calamity from the skies. His legacy, forever.