That rather thoroughly derails Sephiroth's train of thought on whether or not Zack had died, or if Zack had 'died'. He snaps right around, surprised. "W-what? No, I meant--" He wasn't allowed to waste time with things like friendships, all it was was a distraction from his training, his purpose. He could hear the sneering scorn in Hojo's voice, even though the scientist was entire worlds away.

"..."

Hojo isn't here. Shinra isn't here. All his training meant precisely diddly-squat, and who was going to report back that he wasn't doing what he was supposed to? "I.. suppose..?"