"Spinning their wheels while in neutral gear as it were," Cloud commented, allowing his eyes to flick around the room. How many people were determined to get out of this place, but always side-tracked by the elements of the institute?

His attention shifted to Gin when it appeared that 'things were getting tricky'. He frowned in wonder at the explanation, and he suddenly wondered if Gin had actually come here 'alive' as he had or if he was some sort of off-shoot of a soul. He supposed death had other elements, but he was certain Aerith knew how old she was and how many years had passed since she had stepped on the surface.

"A couple of centuries," he could not help but say incredulously. He thought it through for a moment and decided that... maybe it was not so far off base from where he was from. It could have simply been an alteration of the lifestream turned into a structured force. "Where I am from... the lifestream guides souls and reclaims the life after someone dies. It is up to the lifestream if a person's time is up or not."

Or at least... that was how it had been with him. Zack and Aerith had said it was not yet his time to be in the lifestream with them and sent him... well, here apparently. He obviously had some task to do.