I am proud to announce that this fan fiction will be an entrant in SakuraCon's Fan-Fiction contest.

Final Fantasy and its characters are owned by Square Inc., and I do not claim them as my own. However, this story, and all original characters do belong to me.

Who am I? Is this something you often ask yourself�? If you�re adopted, it�s understandable. Even if you lead a perfectly normal life, it�s understandable to ask this every now and then. We all wonder. But then again, what if there�s no answer? What if you weren�t yourself at all, but a slave to a mind not your own�?

What I�m getting at is hard to explain. I�m a twenty-five year old, or so they told me at Shinra. Only, at that time I remembered very little of life� the last two weeks, actually. They told me up-front that I am a clone of someone I haven�t even met, and that I was made for a specific mission. What a trip. I don�t even get a free mind with the deal, I guess. All I am is a body, and a preformatted mind. It really tears you up sometimes.

I knew I couldn�t stay there any longer. At Shinra, I mean. Hojo was my "father"� the one who created me. But I couldn�t stand him. Now I know why he and his son are on such horrid terms.

Anyway, this is my story. A twisted tale of tragedy and sorrow, of sanity and insanity, and what it really means to be unique. What a joke.

I remember that sold night like it was yesterday. Hojo had been sure to lock up my containment cylinder as usual, worried that I might pull something to try and get out of there. He was pretty smart. I would�ve torn his throat out the first chance I got. The man was crazy.

My space was pretty limited in the cell. It was like a cold, cramped prison cell. I felt like an animal in the zoo; my cell was right across from some kind of strange wolf-beast, and next to a chimera-looking creature. Ridiculous. I had to get out.

Standing up and letting the soles of my boots touch the floor, I put my hands to the glass pane before me. It had to have been about an inch thick. There was no way to break it. However, I had another idea. There was a noise the chimera near me absolutely despised. Grinning, I glanced to his cylinder and put my foot flat against the glass. Slowly sliding it downwards, the one-inch heel screamed against the glass something terrible. Chimera was immediately awake, and two of his heads began to growl.

Repeating my motions several times, I got quite a show out of the beast. It wasn�t long before he was rearing, all three heads crying out, and his claws slashing at everything. I loved his strength. Bucking, he pounded the glass forcefully many times, and it finally shattered, sending the whole front of the cell smashing to the ground, and setting off the alarm. That�s when I stopped making the noise. Chimera was enraged enough to raise the dead, and he rampaged, ripping up everything he could in the lab.

Then, a squad of SOLDIERs busted through the nearest door, followed by Reeve, a very humble executive of Shinra. He commanded the squad, which went right for Hojo�s specimen, and began to subdue it. Then, he saw that I was awake, and approached my cell.

"You�re lucky you�re safe, 222. That animal was right next to you." I could hear him because the cylinder was very tall, and at the top there were tiny holes all in it that allowed for communication. Reeve had spoken with me before, and was intellectual. I assume he found me the same way.

I pressed my fingertips to the glass, but still stood as far from the pane as I could. "Reeve, do I look like an animal to you�? This is inhumane." The man looked shiftily to the ground. I smiled at his reaction, trying to seduce him to my will. "Oh come on. The squad is busy, and the chimera ruined all the video camera equipment in here. No one would know it if you let me free. I promise you won�t regret it." I pleaded with my expression, looking at him even though his eyes were averted.

It was a while the executive stood there. He did have authority over Hojo and could release me if he so desired. It wouldn�t exactly be a stupid mistake because my brain wasn�t that of a beast, but a human, even if it wasn�t all my own.

Saying no more words, after a couple minutes Reeve took out his key card and slipped it in a fluid motion through the scanner on the glass door. It beeped red, then the cell�s door slid to the side. I was overcome with victorious joy.

"Reeve, you�re a sweetheart." Taking his chin in my hand, I smiled at his uneasy face. "You really are. And for that, you shall be sparred, but I can�t say the same about your comrades here in Shinra."

Without another word, I released my grip and ran. I just ran. Fast, and hard, down the hall. I�d have to be careful to escape. And surely, Reeve wouldn�t want me to kill anyone� but that was beyond the poor man�s power.