The realization was gradual, and terrifying - given what they now knew about what had been done to them, one of their number knowing something they shouldn't or speaking in a vocal rhythm not their own was cause for concern. But SOLDIERs did not retreat, and the doctors of Mideel knew what they were about, and so they eventually sorted it out. No cause for concern, they declared, just residual changes from Reunion lingering in their prefrontal cortex. Congratulations, you're all now members of a low-key telepathic hivemind.

It was... less than reassuring. But they did what SOLDIERs do - they practiced, and trained, and adapted. They discovered new uses for their telepathic ability that made them even more deadly in the field. When one learned a new skill, they all picked up on it. When one ate ice cream or jumped in a cold pool or got a hug, they could all experience it. The only real drawback was that pranking each other became impossible. Also that they were pretty sure Cloud Strife was part of their telepathic collective but was blocking them out, which was a bummer in multiple directions.

Then, two years later, a tall man with silver hair washed up on the beach near Mideel, and a week later when he opened his eyes every SOLDIER knew it. Where their individual mindscapes ran the gamut from 'tangled landscapes' to 'riot of abstract color', Sephiroth's mindscape was calm, free of Jenova - and as empty as a summer sky.