JENOVA
An Objective and Scientific Analysis of the Mechanisms, Vectors, and Symptoms of The Calamity from the Skies.
A) Initial Biology
Jenova was, originally, an anaerobic cellular slime entity, possibly possessed of intelligence, but probably not sentience. Cellular respiration was carried out via the metabolizing of raw spirit energy. Subsequently, the method of cellular communication (ergo, cognition) was transmission of signals via magical impulses, which do not need specialized cells to travel. (As opposed to the electro-chemical impulses in humans, which are transferred by neurons) Because this organism essentially ate mako, it attacked living things and extracted the energy from them. The process is here outlined:
1. Approach: Jenova changes form so as to approach the target without arousing defense mechanisms.
2. Infection: Jenova infects the subject with a mutagenic retrovirus that accomplishes three things:
a. Changes the biology of the target so that the Spirit energy is more readily extracted
b. Provides a means of spirit energy transfer (carried out through magical transmission)
c. Changes the biology of the target so that it has improved defenses and increased lifespan, allowing for a longer lasting energy source.
3. Mutation: Target succumbs to the virus and generally becomes some form of unpleasant, irrational monster, the type of which is a result of the target’s previous genetic and magical state.
B) Early History
Jenova arrived on Gaia via a small meteor. It then proceeded to attack living things of all varieties, but soon developed a taste for the Cetra. The Cetra fought back, and eventually sealed Jenova in the crust at the original crash site. (The humans, on the other hand, went in to hiding. The Cetra’s population and gene pool became depleted, while the humans were still plentiful enough to be able to sustain their population. They became technologically advanced and the dying Cetra were all but forgotten.)
C) Discovery and Experimentation
In the early days of Shinra INC., a team of researchers was sent to the northern crater to investigate the natural spirit energy effects surrounding the crater. They excavated the body of Jenova and assumed (incorrectly) from its appearance that it was a female member of the Cetra. (This mistake was made easier by the fact that they had previously discovered fossilized remains of Cetra that were just post-infection and half mutated.) Because Jenova had been sealed in a mako-rich environment, most of its cells were still viable, even if the Jenova organism as a whole was in a vegetative state.
Correctly believing that it was the high mako
concentrations that were keeping Jenova alive, they moved it to the
Jenova’s high resilience gave scientists the hope of creating super-human warriors and with the war on, there was every reason to do it. Dr. Ghast had been experimenting with mako exposure, but thus far had only managed to poison subjects. He soon found that an implantation of Jenova cells allowed an organism to withstand relatively high levels of mako exposure, which granted some magical abilities and increased resilience. However, the Jenova cells themselves were responsible for a dramatic increase of strength. Either way, the authorization for project SOLDIER was given: Ghast was given a larger team, and his work began to be monitored by the Turks.
Part of this team was a young geneticist by the name of Hojo. Hojo’s grasp of ethics might have been shaky, but his work regarding Jenova far outstripped Ghast’s. It was he who originally proposed that an organism exposed to Jenova cells in utero would be superior to those who received the implant later in life. The testing of this theory resulted in the birth of Sephiroth.
After Shinra won their war, the need for SOLDIER was decreased. Ghast died, and Hojo took over what had become a major branch of Shinra INC. Hojo, however, did not agree with Ghast’s approach to mako exposure, and began his own experiments. At this time, Jenova began to regain some of its previous cognitive function. Cells removed from it from this point on exhibited some of the viral behavior of the original Jenova organism, and mutations began occurring in Hojo’s experiments. These monsters began to terrorize the Nibelheim area.
To deal with this problem, a group of Shinra guards and two SOLDIERs were dispatched to investigate. One of these was Sephiroth. Believing that the Mako reactor was the epicenter of the phenomenon, the team investigated. Sephiroth found some of Hojo’s experiments, and read some of the documentation regarding his birth. He misinterpreted the data, and assumed that he was the last of the Cetra. At this point, Jenova became aware of the cells within Sephiroth’s body, and began to exert control over him. Between the life-shattering revelations and the mental interference from the alien, he went mad. Sephiroth attacked the town, broke into the inner chamber of the mako reactor, and removed the head of Jenova from the main organism. In a fight with one of the Shinra guards, (who by sheer coincidence, was a seemingly failed subject of the SOLDIER program) both Sephiroth and the head of Jenova ended up in the lifestream.
C) Initial changes in biology
When Jenova became aware of Sephiroth, it began to communicate with the Jenova cells in his body. This caused some intense psychological overlap between the two. From this point on, when looking at things from the Jenova standpoint, the will and actions of Sephiroth and Jenova are indistinguishable from each other. A more accurate description might liken Jenova to a person, and Sephiroth to the hand, but this is not an entirely accurate depiction, as Jenova is not possessed of sentience and Sephiroth is. For the purposes of this paper, we will continue to look at Jenova and Sephiroth as separate organisms living in a quasi-symbiotic relationship, will all other organisms involved being “hosts” to the Jenova organism.
The end result of this is Sephiroth’s sentience allows him to conceive an abstract, in this case, the mako-rich “Promised Land” of Cetra legend. Jenova’s instinct to consume makes this seem like a very attractive proposition, and so Sephiroth is influenced to formulate a plan to gain control of as much spirit energy as possible. To this end, the old Jenova viral behavior is effectively ended in favor of the pre-existing (but to this point, little used) reunion instinct.
The reunion instinct was originally a tool used by the Jenova organism in case of injury that caused it to be discombobulated. Those who had received a Jenova graft were driven to follow the reunion instinct, sometimes unconsciously. (Case Study: Cloud Strife)
During the following series of events (which will not be documented here, as this is a discussion of the Jenova organism only), Sephiroth used pieces of the Jenova organism as a means of distracting his foes. When these fragments were destroyed, the tainted spirit energy was released into the lifestream. When Sephiroth himself was killed, his soul was released into the lifestream, where the natural processes of the planet tried to absorb it with only minimal success. The effects of these two aspects will be discussed later.
On a side note, it merits consideration that the continued fragmentation
of the Jenova organism must have lowered its cell count significantly, possibly
to levels far below “critical mass” for cognition and independent action. This
would explain the seeming dominance of Sephiroth’s will over Jenovas’s instinct
throughout the events following his entry into the lifestream. It might even be
speculated that Sephiroth deliberately removed the head of Jenova to reduce its
cognitive abilities and thereby make his will the dominant force, and his
continued dissection of Jenova supports such thought. This, however, is pure
speculation without any proof, the only support for which is that there is no
other apparent reason to remove the head or, later on, to kill the reuniting
Sephiroth clones.
D) Secondary changes in biology
While almost all of the Jenova cells were, after Sephiroth’s defeat, either destroyed or living dormant within selected survivors of the JENOVA and SOLDIER programs, Shinra, INC. retained some samples of the original tissue, pieces of the pseudo-cranial bones removed from the organism when it was first wired for monitoring.
Those parts of the Jenova organism that were “killed”, either directly via attack or indirectly via the death and decomposition of a host, released large colonies of a retrovirus that was similar to the original Jenova virus, but lacking significant mutagenic properties. This virus vas primarily released into the life stream, where it was then taken up by growing organisms, particularly pre-adolescent children. A few individuals contracted the virus through repeated contact with dying Jenova cells. (Case Study: Rufus Shinra)
The presence of the resultant provirus initiates an immune response, and in most cases, the auto-immune disorder known as Geostigma.
Scholars from all fields have debated the existence of the “planet
consciousness,” and evidence of independent action by the planet is theoretical
at best. However, it has been widely accepted that Geostigma is the result of
planet action on those who have been exposed to Jenova cells or any virus
originating wherefrom. Other alleged examples of planet action signifying
planet consciousness include the spontaneous generation and arousal of the
“WEAPON” creatures and the eruption of lifestream to prevent the destruction of
Midgar by Meteor. It has also been speculated that the Cetra had an awareness
of the planet consciousness, but this is unlikely to be proven, as they are
extinct.
Geostigma is named after the dark purple or black marks it leaves on the skin. These stigmata are most frequently harmless bruises caused when the immune system attacks the walls of sub-dermal capillaries. However, these stigmata precede the attack on surrounding tissues. The area around the stigmata becomes painful and sensitive to touch and movement. The area will begin to weep a mixture of puss and necrotic tissue that is gelatinous and dark gray in color. As the attack proceeds, it can affect progressively more vital organs, often causing internal hemorrhaging and, ultimately, death.
Treatment of Geostigma mainly revolves around the treatment of symptoms. Use of immunosuppressants has been shown to slow the progression of the disease, but with only limited success. A bath of water infused with mako has been proven an effective and almost instant treatment, but the mechanism by which this method works is unknown, and the dangers of mako poisoning make medical specialists reluctant to use this method. Despite this, it is not unusual for a person with Geostigma to seek out a natural spring with mako content, such as those found in Old Midgar or Mideel as treatment.
This paper acknowledged the concept of “soul.” This is because, after
much study, there was no other phenomenon that could explain the events that
are described in the following passages, including much empirical evidence and
many eyewitness accounts. It is not intended to detract form the objectiveness
of this paper, but to use currently defined knowledge to explain actual events.
The soul of Sephiroth, as noted before, was not successfully absorbed into the lifestream. Rather, it was split into three fragments. These fragments managed to construct bodies for themselves from the contaminated spirit energy within the planet. These entities, lacking Jenova cells, were not subject to the “reunion” instinct, but were still bent on recovering the last remaining fragments of the Jenova specimen. These entities could use the tainted mako to awaken the reunion instinct in anyone who was suffering from Geostigma, and at a much lower contamination threshold than the original members SOLDIER or the Sephiroth clones were subjected to; however, this could only be achieved with a certain amount of complacency by the individual involved.
One of these entities did in fact recover the last of the original Jenova samples, which he absorbed into his body. Because he was constructed almost entirely of tainted mako, the Jenova cells were able to effectively re-form it. To all intents and purposes, Sephiroth had been resurrected. Shortly thereafter he was “killed,” but whether this time his soul has been absorbed into the lifestream is unclear. The fragment entities were dissolved in the storm that followed, most likely on account of the rain, which contained an unusually high level of mako energy, some have even suggested miraculously high. In any event, this rain effectively treated most of the cases of Geostigma in Midgar, and most of those that were not were later treated via the methods previously mentioned.
E) The Jenova Organism and modern times.
As of now, all known cells of the Jenova organism have been neutralized. Despite this, there is some doubt as to whether the “Calamity from the Skies” has truly been removed as a threat from our lives. The shocking persistence of Sephiroth, after he had been killed not once but twice, has made some speculate that the lifestream has been irreparably damaged by the Jenova organism, and that we will have to continuously beat back the attempts by Jenova to effectively wipe out civilization as we know it. The fact that the Cetra were practically obliterated in their fight with Jenova suggests an unbelievable resilience.
When SHINRA, inc. lost their political hold on the
planet, much of the information regarding Jenova was made available to the
general public, as have detailed accounts of the Cetra. With this knowledge
revealed, many almost cult-like groups have sprung up on all sides of what has
become a very confused argument. Places like Mideel, the northern Crater, and
Regardless of the nature of Jenova, it must be admitted that the events surrounding it have played a pivotal role in our world history. The obliteration of the Cetra and the subsequent dominance of the human race is only the most obvious example. The formation and later decay of the Mako industry can be said to have been driven by Jenova, as have many theological developments. Trying to fathom the scope of this one organism’s consequences is a task that even our most brilliant historians and social experts will struggle with, because there is so little that has not been affected. It can only be hoped that our records do not pass way like those of the Cetra, so that future generations may understand the intense, multi-staged cataclysm that was (is?) the “Calamity from the Skies.”