Part 14 (6): The Study of Planet Life

Go explore Cosmo Canyon and find one of your party members. Through them, you'll be able to call anyone into your party that you wish, save Red XIII. Barret will be with Elder Hargo, Yuffie in the Materia shop, Cait will be in the kitchen, and Aeris and Tifa will be at the bar getting sloshed and frisky and experimental and... uhm... er, *cough*, sorry, imagination got carried away....

Once you re-enter Bugenhagen's house, he'll call you into his lab, which is that big wooden door.

BUGENHAGEN: "Ho Ho Hoooo. It looks like you have them all together. Then let's begin." (he floats around to the other side of the room) "You stand there."

Bugenhagen flips a switch, which darkens the room and turns on some other lights. The platform Cloud is on then suddenly begins to rise up into a model of the Solar system.

The party separates from Cloud. AERIS: "So pretty... It's just like the real thing!" BUGENHAGEN: "Hmm, yes pretty good. This is my laboratory. All the workings of space are entered into this 3D Holographic System." AERIS: "Hey! A shooting star!" (A shooting star flies past. A planet with two moons floats by, and then we see several asteroids. They fly around and then proceed to enter a black hole) "Wow, how wonderful!"

BUGENHAGEN: "Ho Ho Hoooo. Yes, it is something, isn't it? Well, let's get to the subject." (pauses) "Eventually... all humans die. What happens to them after they die?" "The body decomposes, and returns to the Planet. That much everyone knows. What about their consciousness, their hearts and their souls? The soul too returns to the Planet." "And not only those of humans, but everything on this Planet. In fact, all living things in the universe, are the same. The spirits that return to the Planet, merge with one another and roam the Planet. They roam, converge, and divide, becoming a swell, called the 'Lifestream'." "Lifestream... In other words, a path of energy of the souls roaming the Planet. 'Spirit Energy' is a word that you should never forget." "A new life... children are blessed with Spirit energy and are brought into the world. Then, the time comes with they die and once again return to the Planet... Of course there are exceptions, but this is the way of the world." "I've digressed, but you'll understand better if you watch this."

We see the Planet, and on top of that is a person and some trees. The person and trees disintegrate, and become specks of energy. These specs start to traverse the globe, merge, and combine, only to form a baby. This baby grows up, dies, and the same thing happens over and over until the Planet is brimming with life and energy. BUGENHAGEN: "Spirit energy makes all things possible, trees, birds, and humans. Not just living things. But Spirit energy makes it possible for Planets to be Planets. But, if all that energy were to disappear..." Bugenhagen holds out his arm, and sucks up all the energy. What's left is a black, lifeless rock which crumbles and falls apart.