Butterfly Effect: Chapter 29

[bard_linn]

Authors: Bard Linn and Kiraya
Genre: General/Drama
Pairings: That'd be telling!
Rating (Overall): PG-13
Summary: “I’m wondering if this might not just be a personal vendetta, General. You and the Professor have never seen eye to eye.”

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and all associated characters and symbols are the exclusive property of Square Enix and its associates. We’re just borrowing them for a while.


Chapter 29

Midgar was a city under siege.

Everywhere Cloud looked, he saw the signs. There was hardly anyone wandering the streets, shops were closed even though it was only early evening, and patrols were common both above and below the Plate. From the communiques they’d received, it appeared the bulk of ShinRa’s forces were heading to either Junon or Midgar, depending on where they were normally based, leaving only token forces in the smallest towns. The sole exception was Wutai, where the military had already grimly dug in and readied themselves in case of a revolt.

The blond took a moment to straighten his uniform as he climbed out of the truck. Usually, they would all be debriefed as a group, and then the SOLDIERs would meet with General Sephiroth. Things being as they were, the troopers were barely given a word before being dismissed. The meeting with Sephiroth was equally as brief, to some of the others’ disappointment. Cloud could see the near-invisible signs of strain on the General’s face, however, so he didn’t mind. What he wanted to do was track Zack down and get the entire story out of him. Where his mentor — former mentor, he reminded himself; the mentorship had dissolved in April with the new exams, another thing he’d missed — had gone, he didn’t know. The desk in the outer office had been empty.

Reports were handed in, and the rest of the SOLDIERs left. Cloud turned to follow when Sephiroth’s voice stopped him. “Strife, a word.”

Cloud turned sharply, straightening. “Yes, sir?”

“Sinclair is drilling the SOLDIERs First Class in residence. He will not be back until later tonight.”

“Yes, sir. I understand. Thank you for telling me.” Sephiroth dismissed him and Cloud found himself at loose ends. Normally he had some sort of set activity for every free minute, but at the moment he had no idea what to do with himself. The gym would probably be pretty busy, since practically everyone was back in Midgar, and Cloud didn’t want to get caught in the rush. He wasn’t going to go wandering around down below with the current situation either. He needed to be on hand in case something happened. Zack undoubtedly could’ve come up with something to do, but he wasn’t available.

Cloud blinked in sudden realization. Vincent! He could go drop by the dark-haired man and catch up. The former Turk would undoubtedly be able to fill him in on everything going on. Besides, Cloud remembered, feeling a little guilty, he hadn’t just spent time with the man since the first time he’d left Nibelheim for Midgar. They had always been busy training — not that Vincent hadn’t been training him before, but…

Cloud shook the thought off and walked quickly to Sephiroth’s quarters. Ten minutes and a quiet knock later, he was looking into the red eyes of his first mentor. “Hello, Vincent.”

“You look well, Cloud.”

The blond grinned. “Thanks. I was wondering, can you bring me up to speed on what’s going on? They didn’t tell us much at our briefing.”

“I can do better than that.” Vincent walked over to Sephiroth’s computer and called up a file. “This was pulled almost immediately off the networks, but ShinRa still has a copy.”

Cloud’s eyes widened in surprised. “They were videotaping?”

“The banquet celebrating for the successful launch of the rocket,” Vincent explained, starting the video.

The SOLDIER ignored most of the President’s speech in favor of watching the people around the man who had commanded the strongest company in the world. He spotted the department heads and several Turks, and Sephiroth was also there, in his capacity as General of SOLDIER.

“…a toast to the future of mankind. Today, we walk among the stars!” The heavyset man took a sip from his glass and abruptly started choking. Amid the shouting and chaos that ensued, the camera focused in on President Shinra’s stiffening corpse, then abruptly cut off.

“They checked the wine, I suppose?” Cloud asked.

“There was nothing in it. The body showed signs consistent with an incident during the Wutai war during which the natives used a particular type of ivy to poison SOLDIERs. Traces of it were found in the late President’s specially prepared food,” Vincent added. “It appears quite straightforward.”

“I don’t think it’s that easy.” Cloud leaned against the wall. “I’ve seen the stuff in Wutai. It’s a commonly used herb — can be eaten in small doses uncooked with no side affects at all, and if it’s cooked you can eat even more of it. The problem with it’s unique to SOLDIERs, apparently.” He frowned. “But it’s a great way to make it appear that Wutai’s responsible, right?”

Vincent nodded. “The question is, if Wutai is not responsible, who is?”

“It would have to be someone who had a motive, someone who would either have the knowledge to create a drug mimicking this stuff or could hire somebody else to do it for him,” Cloud mused aloud.

The former Turk immediately began reviewing the tape again. “Hojo isn’t directly next to the President…” He sounded almost disappointed.

Cloud studied the image closely. “Wait,” he said suddenly. “Rewind a bit.” Vincent did so, and Cloud reached out to pause the video. “Why is he wearing gloves there when he’s bare-handed only a few seconds later?” The dark-haired man said nothing, waiting for him to continue; Cloud bit back a sigh. “If he put something on the gloves and then shook hands… some of those order-whatever things are meant to be eaten by hand, aren’t they?”

“Hors d’oeuvres, and yes. However, that doesn’t explain why the wine apparently poisoned him,” Vincent pointed out.

Cloud resisted the urge to beat his head against the wall. Sometimes Vincent took his job as devil’s advocate a little too seriously — this wasn’t a theory discussion! “Unless the drug was made so alcohol triggered it,” he countered.

“A good point.” Vincent closed the video and began the process of accessing the Professor’s files. “And if we can find evidence of such here, we will have enough to bring a case before the board. ShinRa may tolerate much corruption, but assassination of the President takes things too far.”

“Unless you’re the next in line,” Cloud muttered.

Vincent nodded. “You had best go and inform Sephiroth. I expect we will know shortly one way or another.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Zack watched quietly as Sephiroth laid the evidence they — well, mostly Vincent — had accumulated before the board. Rufus Shinra, the former President’s son and successor recently returned from Junon, appeared to be paying the most attention. Scarlet was somehow projecting both amusement and disdain, while the rest of the board looked rather, well, bored. Two of the department heads were absent: Reeve, from Urban Development, was not in attendance, instead down below the Plate reviewing structural integrity with some of his engineers. Zack didn’t know whether he hadn’t been able to be reached or if no one had even bothered trying when Sephiroth had called the emergency meeting. It was surprising how many people who lived in Midgar didn’t give two cents about the man who kept it functioning.

Professor Hojo’s absence, on the other hand, was more than a bit surprising. It was out of character for him to miss out on a chance to observe his favorite subject. On the plus side, however, it meant that they didn’t have to deal with Hojo’s rebuttals until after they had presented all of their evidence. The conspirators had worried about that; Hojo was a master at bending people’s words to suit his own purposes.

“This is all very interesting, General,” the President said smoothly as the silver-haired man placed the last report, concerning various SOLDIERS who had been reported MIA in Wutai but had in fact ended up in Hojo’s hands, down on the table. “However, most of this evidence is highly circumstantial, though I admit I hadn’t quite realized the amount of money Professor Hojo had pilfered for his own use. Do you have anything more substantial?”

“Yes.” Sephiroth’s uncanny eyes met and held the President’s own. “I have here lab records and photographs of a substance chemically engineered to replicate the effects Wutaian snakevine has on SOLDIERs. The drug is absorbed through skin contact and activated by the consumption of alcohol — and was produced here in ShinRa’s own laboratories.”

Silence reigned. Even in ShinRa the assassination of the President was a crime punishable by death.

“Surely such a drug would leave traces in the body,” Palmer interjected, folding his hands.

“The autopsy was performed by the Science Department,” Sephiroth reminded them.

And with the body already cremated, it’s gonna be much harder to get a second opinion, Zack thought.

Scarlet laughed outright. “I’m wondering if this might not just be a personal vendetta, General. You and the Professor have never seen eye to eye.”

“That may be the case, but regardless of how much of this may or may not be immediately verifiable, I want this investigated further,” the President declared.

Nothing like personal danger to motivate a Shinra, Zack thought, hiding a smirk as the new President instructed Tseng to bring Hojo to the board room. After all, if he had murdered one president, what was to stop him from killing another?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tseng entered the elevator, carefully hiding his pleasure at this turn of events… though he was quite curious as to where Sephiroth had gotten his information. SOLDIERs were not trained in the fine art of hacking, and the late President had made a conscious effort to keep the General of SOLDIER too busy to get into mischief. Even running several battalions of men did not require that much paperwork.

The Turk stepped from the elevator to meet Rude and Reno, waiting exactly where he had requested. “Nothin’ but silence, boss.”

“To be expected. The labs have some of the best soundproofing in the building.” Tseng glanced between the pair. “We need to escort Professor Hojo to the board room; he’s late for a meeting. Be aware that we may encounter resistance.” Unsaid, but not unheard, was the reminder to keep weapons ready but hidden.

Reno patted his jacket, where he kept his electro-rod. “Ready when you are.”

Tseng pulled out his override keycard and slid it into the slot. When nothing happened, he frowned; had Hojo somehow sealed the door? Then with, a hideous screech, it finally slid open, far slower than it should have. All three Turks noted the bend in the metal impeding its progress.

“What the hell—”

Reno’s comment was cut off when a giant thing threw itself at the partially open doorway. Tseng caught an impression of huge teeth and sharp claws before Rude lashed out, holding it back while Reno lunged to smack the door panel, reversing its direction and sealing the frustrated monster inside. All three Turks stared at the door for a long moment. While their occupation presented many dangers, they generally dealt with humans, not monsters. They could probably take the thing down if they went in, but it wouldn’t be easy, and there would be injuries, possibly even deaths.

“You know, boss,” Reno said lightly, hiding his nerves with expert ease, “we have a whole bunch of SOLDIERs who excel at this type of thing who should be earning their keep, don’t you think?”

Tseng was already pulling out his PHS.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“You see more of these things than I do. Recognize any of them?” Reno asked Zack an hour later as the SOLDIER healed a shallow wound on the redhead’s shoulder.

“No.” The light of the Cure spell flickered and faded. “I have a bad feeling the Professor has been building hybrids or some other sort of crazy junk. Just be glad we haven’t seen any signs of Marlboros or Tonberries.”

Usually Zack’d be teased for spreading tales of semilegendary creatures — most people were skeptical when he told them about Touch Mes, too — but this time the Turk merely grimaced. “Ramuh forbid.” He tested his arm. “Thanks.” He turned to stare at the door. “How many rooms has it been so far?”

“Lost count,” Zack replied, shrugging. “Too busy dodging.” It figured that Hojo would somehow know he had been discovered. The scientist had activated every emergency door in the lab and unleashed various nasty creatures into each section. He hadn’t cared much for his coworkers, either. Their group — Reno, Zack, Rude, Tseng, and Sephiroth — had found more than a few human bodies amongst the damage. Sometimes they hadn’t found complete corpses at all, and only had blood marks and discarded human debris on the floor to mark the death of another ShinRa employee.

“This room is clear,” Tseng announced. “Are you two done?” Zack and Reno nodded, moving over to where the other three members of their group waited by the thick metal door separating this room from the next. They were close to Hojo’s personal lab.

Sephiroth and Zack took their places in the front, quick enough to take out whatever monsters lurked on the side if it sped through the doorway. Tseng tried the override, only to find it wasn’t working. “Par for the course,” Zack muttered as Sephiroth brought his sword up — not the Masamune, since both it and the Buster Sword would be difficult to maneuver in these conditions — and sliced through the door with a hideous screech. The General nodded as he swung at the metal again, weakening its structural integrity enough that it came crashing down. The SOLDIERs zipped through the opening, Rude and Reno right behind them while Tseng brought his gun up, sighting the brief flicker of motion beside the door—

“Don’t shoot!” A scientist appeared from behind a cart, looking much worse for the wear. His suit was completely ruined, his lab coat gone, and he had more than a few splashes of blood smeared across his skin. Zack noted with some surprise that the man had a knife strapped at his waist. “Oh, thank Gaea! Am I glad to see you!”

“Well, well… whaddya know, a live ‘un,” Reno drawled. “Think he’s one of Hojo’s?”

“Hardly.” The scientist shook his head, gesturing to another corner of the room where a monster corpse lay. His missing lab coat had been dropped over the thing’s head; Zack noticed several chemical burns as well as one or two knife wounds. “I’ve just been incredibly lucky — that thing was pretty slow, and here in chemical storage it’s easy to find good makeshift projectiles.”

And there were puddles of acid all over the floor and chemical burns on the walls as proof of that. Zack shook his head. It was a minor miracle the man hadn’t triggered a reaction and blown anything up, with how bad his aim was.

“The knife?” Tseng interjected, also having spotted the unexpected.

The man flushed. “My daughter’d kill me if I left home without some way to defend myself.”

“Your daughter?”

“Specialist,” the scientist replied, a hint of pride in his voice, and Zack nodded in understanding. Clearly this particular one had insisted on passing some of her combat training to her family… something that might’ve helped save his life here.

“I suggest you leave,” Tseng said, his voice clear and commanding. “The way to the hall is clear; there should be medical teams standing by to tend to your injuries as well.” The still-unnamed scientist nodded and left, limping heavily, and the group dismissed him from their minds. If he was in with Hojo, they could interrogate him later. The man could barely walk; there was no way he’d be escaping.

Sephiroth had already moved carefully across the room, avoiding bubbling pools of liquid to stand before the next door, and the rest of the group quickly caught up. As metal crashed to the floor, a sharp, bloodstained beak emerged before the opening was even complete, only to fall to the ground as Sephiroth reversed his sword. Blood, bone and metal crashed to the floor at once while an ear-piercing cry split the air.

Well, that’s different, Zack observed, finally getting a good look at the thing they were fighting. It was a chimera, a bizarre combination of dragon, bandersnatch, and — of all things — an oversized black chocobo. The latter head had already been badly wounded by Sephiroth’s first attack and shook with agony as the bandersnatch howled. The dragon studied them with a malicious gleam in its eyes and took a deep breath, unleashing a wave of fire that scattered them to different corners of the room. Rude stayed close, however, gritting his teeth as the flames washed over him, the Elemental materia in his bracer glowing brightly, and darted in to eliminate the wounded head, snapping its neck. The chimera roared at that, and a draconic tail lashed out at him, sending him flying into the wall.

Zack cast a Blizzara at the thing, only to have the dragon counter most of it with another blast of flame — but the distraction served its purpose, and the chimera shrieked in pain as the Thundaga Sephiroth cast sent lightning arcing over its scaly-furred hide. Reno took advantage of the moment to come in and strike with the electro-rod, managing to blind the bandersnatch in one eye, the sound of gunfire echoing through the room as Tseng’s quick shot finished it off.

Sephiroth nodded briskly towards Rude, but the Turks needed no prompting to head for their fallen comrade, keeping an eye on the angrily hissing chimera as they sped across the room. There was no need for them to worry, however, as Zack and Sephiroth charged together, blades flashing as they sawed through the dragon’s neck, finally slaying the beast. Zack gave the corpse a good kick, and was surprised at how light it was.

“Avian skeleton,” Sephiroth observed, studying it for a moment before turning to look over at the Turks. Tseng had produced a Restore materia and was slowly healing Rude’s wounds. Zack could tell from the faintness of the glow and the minute signs of strain on Tseng’s face that it was going to take some time; the Turk Leader had already poured a lot of himself into spells during previous encounters. Unfortunately, they hadn’t thought to bring too many ethers, and had used the last one they had a few rooms back.

Zack started as he abruptly realized Sephiroth’s attention was focused elsewhere, on a small door across the room. The sign beside it had been knocked askew, but the lettering was still clear enough.

Professor Toshiro Hojo, Chair
Department of Science and Research

Sephiroth moved suddenly, striding briskly across the room without regard for anything in his way, and Zack hurried to catch up. Reno nudged his boss and gestured at the materia; handing it to him, Tseng followed the two SOLDIERs.

Hojo’s office was intact, and surprisingly neat. Only a handful of things were clearly missing: Hojo’s personal computer, a lightweight portable model only recently released, and several paper files, pulled from an open filing cabinet. Hojo had apparently been too busy attempting to slow them down to take everything or destroy what he couldn’t, though without his computer all his more recent files were lost to them.

What held Sephiroth’s attention, however, was a conspicuously blank wall. The General reached out to hit a small switch beside the filing cabinet, and the wall opened to reveal a short passage that, if the sinking feeling in Zack’s chest was right, would undoubtedly lead to the emergency stairs down the side of the building. He silently cursed. Vincent had told them about these passages, and they hadn’t thought to guard them!

Sephiroth started down the passage, but paused as Zack put his hand on his leather-clad arm. “Stop, Seph,” he said with a sigh. “He’s gone.” He nodded towards Tseng, who was communicating with security on his PHS. They both could hear the negative reports coming in.

Eyes narrowing with barely concealed rage, looking as coldly dangerous as he hadn’t since the Wutaians had dubbed him Demon during the war, Sephiroth whirled and left the office, stalking back the way they’d come. Zack paused long enough to check with Tseng. “Anything?”

The Turk Leader shook his head. “There are barely any signs of his passing, but we know he’s out of ShinRa’s immediate territory. Probably below the Plate, possibly even out of the city by now.” The man bit back a sigh. “I’ll get the investigators in here as soon as possible. We might yet find something useful.”

Zack nodded. “Thanks.” With that he took off in the direction the General had gone. He could already hear the destruction as Sephiroth took out his frustration on the remaining monsters and whatever else got in his way. Sighing, Zack picked up his pace. He’d better make sure his friend left the building standing.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Leaving is all but a confession,” Rufus Shinra observed as Tseng finished his report. “The question is, a confession to what?” Sephiroth had brought many things to light that Hojo could easily have been tried, possibly even executed, for. It hardly mattered until they caught the scientist, however; he might as well spend his energy on more useful pursuits. “I suppose the investigation into Wutai is a moot issue now,” he continued, carefully watching Tseng for any reaction. The man was difficult to read under the best of circumstances, but Rufus had long suspected his homeland was a delicate subject.

“Our initial probes have shown nothing as of yet,” Tseng replied calmly, without so much as a twitch in reaction.

Rufus turned to look out the windows at Midgar, temporarily setting aside the puzzle that was his Turk Leader. He would figure out the man eventually; no code was unbreakable, after all. Watching sleeping Midgar, now his city, he smiled thinly. He had long thought on this day, and yet things were far different than he had expected. “Things will be changing, Tseng. I have no intention of spending the company’s money as wastefully as my father did. We can put it towards far more profitable ventures.” Yes, there would still be bribes and the like, but far less often… and to far fewer people. There were cheaper ways to keep errant employees in line.

The smile on his lips shifted to a smirk. “I rather like the way the city is now. Quiet, trembling in fear and uncertainty.”

“It won’t last,” the Turk Leader observed. “Fear keeps the common man in check only as long as its source is a readily apparent threat. History tells us that.”

And some idiot had already leaked the news all over the city, that the head of the Science Department was on the run, wanted for the murder of the President, and only the most paranoid would fear one man lacking funding or support. “A pity.” Rufus sighed. “What is the status of the Science Department?”

“Approximately forty-seven percent of the staff survived, mostly those who were scheduled for the night shift; accordingly, most are aides, secretaries, or lab assistants. Fully a third of the casualties resulted after the fact from massive blood loss and other injury-related issues tended to too late. Only a handful of junior scientists and a few experienced seniors escaped.”

“And the levels themselves?”

“Will need to be completely reoutfitted. There was significant structural damage.”

“Which I’m sure the efforts of our esteemed General had nothing to do with.” Rufus looked at his Turk Leader. “He has appeared to have picked up some… rather interesting skills. I can’t recall him ever playing interdepartmental politics on this level before.”

“Shall I call him in?”

“Not tonight.” Anyone with a head on his shoulders and access to Sephiroth’s file knew how this recent turn of events would affect him, and Rufus Shinra did not particularly want to do anything to further arouse his ire so soon after achieving office. “It would be good to have Major Sinclair as well. If Sephiroth is involved, it’s rare for him not to be.”

“I would recommend we also call in SOLDIER Third Cloud Strife.” The young President raised an eyebrow at that, and Tseng elaborated, “Strife follows Sinclair in much the same way Sinclair follows the General.”

“Interesting,” Rufus murmured thoughtfully, drawing out the word. “I don’t believe I know as much as I’d like about this Strife. I want a copy of his file as soon as possible.” He turned back to the window. “We’ll meet with all three of them here… Thursday afternoon, I think.”

Tseng inclined his head. “As you wish.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I can’t believe Hojo wasn’t at that meeting,” Zack said with a sigh as he collapsed on the couch in Sephiroth’s room. It had been three days since Hojo’s escape, and this was the first time the four conspirators had been able to meet. It was nice to see everyone face to face rather than having to rely on coded messages.

Cloud shifted uncomfortably. “Er, I have a bit of a confession to make.” Three pairs of eyes immediately focused on him, questioning, and he reddened a little. “A SOLDIER might have visited the Flying Dutchman in Sector Three and dared a rather drunk infiltration and sabotage team to steal Hojo’s keycard so he couldn’t use the elevator.”

Zack laughed. “Never thought I’d see the day you’d go voluntarily into a bar! And if you’re talking ‘bout who I think you are, they probably stole every keycard in the wing!”

“I was trying to slow him down enough that he’d be late, not stop him from coming entirely,” Cloud admitted, looking somewhat guilty.

“Not an entirely bad idea,” Vincent conceded, “though it certainly seems to have backfired.”

“Why do you think he didn’t show?” Cloud asked. “That’s been bothering me. Did someone tip him off?”

“It would not be impossible for him to have been warned,” Sephiroth noted. “Though the question then becomes, by whom? Until we approached the board, we were the only ones who knew of our intentions.”

“And I’m fairly certain we can count ourselves out of the possible leaks,” Zack interjected firmly.

“He might have discovered our plans through a spy…”

Cloud felt a chill go down his spine at Sephiroth’s words. “On the board?”

“Doubt it — every one of ‘em has their own agenda. Probably a secretary or somethin’,” Zack commented.

“It is also possible he had no intention to go,” Vincent pointed out. “It would not be the first time he has shirked his responsibilities to remain engaged in an experiment.”

“Then why did he run?” Cloud wanted to know.

“Because he saw the Turks approaching. Hojo has always been paranoid, but he seems to have only become more so under recent circumstances,” Vincent answered.

“‘Recent circumstances’?” Cloud stared at his Turk mentor suspiciously. “What did you do?” It was less of a question and more of an exasperated demand. Zack had to struggle not to snicker aloud, well aware he had used that exact tone with Sephiroth more than once.

“Sabotaging his equipment, corrupting his files.” Vincent shrugged. “Minor acts of inconvenience. We were hoping to fluster him enough to push him into making an obvious mistake.”

“We?” One eyebrow raised in surprise, Zack looked at Sephiroth. “You were in on this, too? Damn!” He sighed. “Why don’t I ever get in on the fun around— ow!” He shot Cloud a hurt look, rubbing his arm. “Hey, kid, that actually hurts now, you know.”

“I’m wondering if the mistake Hojo made was murdering President Shinra,” Cloud mused. “If that’s the case, we better hope the new President doesn’t find out about these tricks, or else he might hold you guys accountable. You’re here; Hojo isn’t.”

Zack winced. “Good point.”

“It should not be a problem, but I will be ready in any case,” returned Vincent.

“Well, not much else we can do for now.” Zack stood, sighing. “I just wish we knew where that creep skittered off to, though.”

“Zack, he’s hardly going to put up a sign proclaiming ‘New Residence of the Creep Known as Hojo,’” Cloud pointed out, rolling his eyes.

“Hey, a guy can dream, can’t he?”

Ping!

All eyes turned towards Sephiroth’s computer at the sound of the incoming message. “Gee, I wonder who that could be from,” Zack muttered.

Sephiroth didn’t waste time, quickly coming to the terminal and clicking on the new message. “…The President wishes to see us in conference room 6604 tomorrow at 1600.”

Cloud sighed. “So much for a clean getaway.”

“I guess it would’ve been too much to hope it was for a raise or a promotion.” Zack stretched. “Well, at least it gets us out of the office early tomorrow, right Seph?”

“SOLDIER Strife’s presence is requested as well.”

The smile faded from Zack’s face. “Damn. I was hoping to keep you out of it.”

“Fat chance,” Cloud replied. “Anyone with half a brain would notice how often the two of us are together. It’s practically a given that I’m involved.”

“Not in the way half of SOLDIER seems to think, at least,” Zack muttered.

Cloud blinked. “Huh?”

“I will go as well,” Vincent announced, cutting through the pair’s conversation, three pairs of Mako-glowing eyes settling on him at that. “I am as deeply involved in this as you, and my presence may provide further evidence supporting what we will say.”

“What are we going to say, anyway?” Cloud asked.

“What else?” returned Vincent. “The truth.”

Sephiroth nodded slowly. “We have no other option.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Reno watched General Sephiroth, Major Sinclair, and SOLDIER Strife carefully as the Turks entered the room. There was something odd going on here, though the redhead couldn’t quite put his finger on it. The fact that the three SOLDIERs were here early enough to beat the President was suspicious in and of itself.

The Turk tuned the President out as he went through the required greetings, reviewing what he knew of the three standing before him. The General was still very much an enigma to the Turk. He knew there was something special about the guy beyond his incredible swordfighting skills and all that, but what exactly it was he didn’t know. The fact that most of his file was still marked as classified despite Reno’s status as a full-fledged Turk — and the fact that he hadn’t been able to crack the codes on it despite his skills — was a red flag as far as he was concerned.

Sinclair was a pretty nice guy, especially for those rule-bound SOLDIER types. Zack knew all the great places to drink and didn’t mind overlooking the lawlessness and pain that followed Turks around like a dog at its master’s heels… provided that you weren’t targeting any of his people, anyway. He was too… well, nice to be able to make it as a Turk, but he was a damn good SOLDIER, not to mention a positive calming influence on the General. The only addition the Turks has made to his file was years old, noting that Sinclair had been protecting that girl Hojo’d wanted for so long. Not that it’d been much of an issue, really; Tseng hadn’t wanted the girl captured in the first place.

And then there was Cloud Strife, of interest to the Turks from the very year he had first arrived. They had kept a loose eye on him as they did all first-time SOLDIER cadets, but eventually he’d been rejected from consideration for the Turks. Reno had to wonder if his partner hadn’t made a mistake there; he’d seen Cloud demonstrate Turk-like qualities many times. Even Tseng had noticed, commenting on it after the whole “assault” thing a while back.

Reno bit back a sigh. Figured that three of the hottest men in ShinRa had to be superenhanced lugs who’d knock him clean through a wall if he tried anything. Shaking his head slightly, he tuned back in to the conversation as Rufus began questioning his audience, one hand resting on Dark Nation’s head to calm the creature, which refused to sit, standing tense at its master’s side.

“How, precisely, did you discover your information about Professor Hojo?”

“Well, sir, it’s a long story,” Sinclair replied, “but I think it starts with Cloud.”

That gave Reno a bit of a surprise. Strife had demonstrated Turk-like qualities, yes, but shown signs of being a master hacker? No way.

“No, it starts with Hojo,” the blond corrected.

“Nuh uh.” Sinclair shook his head. “If you hadn’t found him, we would’ve never realized what Hojo was up to.”

“Yeah, but if it wasn’t for Hojo, he wouldn’t have been down there at all,” Strife countered.

Reno was beginning to get a bit of a headache. “There a point to all this, or what?” he broke in, annoyed.

“Of course there is: distracting a target so they don’t see what you don’t want them to see.” The redhead felt a tingle of shock run down his spine as Strife’s entire manner shifted almost instantly from easygoing SOLDIER to a knife-sharp edginess more familiar in his own department. “I should think you’d know that. It is in the handbook, after all.”

“And what would it be that we aren’t supposed to notice?” the President inquired, an edge to his voice as he studied his employees.

“Me.”

It wasn’t easy to startle a Turk; a surprised Turk is usually a dead one. And yet now Reno found himself completely taken off guard, all attention drawn to the corner of the room the voice had come from. Moving out of the shadows was a creature like something out of a horror story — glowing red eyes, deep black hair, a golden claw, a tattered red cape. It appeared to be human, but Reno still didn’t relax, one hand in his pocket, ready to pull out his electro-rod at a moment’s notice. Who the hell was this guy? Was he here to kill the President? Had the whole deal with Hojo just been a cover so that Sephiroth could strike at Rufus? But… why?

Out of the corner of his eye Reno noticed his boss slowly lowering his gun, a look of shocked recognition dawning on his face as he studied the newcomer closely. “…Impossible.”

The eerie man simply stared at the Turk Leader, who cleared his throat and ventured, “Vincent Valentine?”

Reno raised his eyebrows at that, the closest he’d come in mixed company to revealing his shock. Turk records mentioned Vincent Valentine had been damn good at his job, but… well, leaving aside the fact that the man had died nearly thirty-some odd years ago, he’d be a geezer well into his sixties by now. This guy didn’t look a day over twenty-five. “So, what’s a dead guy doing here?”

Tseng gave him a sharp look. “That’s were Hojo comes in,” Strife interjected.

“SOLDIER Strife, I want you to tell me exactly what is going on here, as concisely as possible.” Rufus demanded, voice remarkably steady under the circumstances. Dark Nation finally sat on its haunches beside its master, but its hackles were still raised, its gaze focused on the supposedly dead Turk.

“Yes, sir.” Strife paused; Vincent nodded, and the kid cleared his throat. “During the second year of the Jenova Project, Turk Vincent was assigned to the scientists working on it as a security measure. He confronted Dr. Hojo some time later when he discovered that the man’s practices were adversely affecting one of his charges, Dr. Lucrecia Crescent, and Hojo shot him at point blank range, effectively killing him. Despite reporting to the company that Vincent had perished due to an encounter with the wildlife, he preserved his body, performing several experimental procedures on him before sealing him away in the basement of the company mansion in Nibelheim.”

Reno felt the beginnings of simmering anger stir in his heart as he listened to Strife’s story. He may not have known this Valentine personally, but for Hojo to have killed a Turk, using one of their own as some lab rat, was completely unacceptable. How in Odin’s name had the bastard managed to get away with it? He frowned as another thought occurred to him. Sephiroth’s report had indicated that some of the SOLDIERs who’d supposedly died in Wutai had actually been victims of Hojo’s work. How many of the Turks reported ‘missing in action, presumed dead’ over the years had faced a similar fate?

He shuddered; he could have been next, for all he knew. Reno wasn’t afraid of much, but he wouldn’t have trusted himself to Hojo if he was dying and the man was the last doctor on the Planet.

“I discovered Vincent’s prison by accident when I was a child, and when General Sephiroth, Major Sinclair, and I were sent to investigate the Nibelheim area, we met him again. Upon later investigation of the reactor, we found distinct signs that Hojo had been conducting experiments there at some point in the past.”

The President raised an eyebrow. “And this wasn’t in the report because…?”

“Would you have believed it?” Zack asked frankly. “We needed more evidence. Sir.”

“In any case, Vincent returned to Midgar with us, and later proved crucial in collecting our data condemning Hojo,” Cloud finished.

Well, that explains the hacking thing, anyway, Reno thought. Valentine had always scored well in that area, if he remembered the file correctly. And he’d’ve had almost unlimited time to work on refamiliarizing himself with the company’s systems, too.

“It seems we must work to improve our data security systems,” the President remarked as he glanced between the conspirators. “However, it seems thanks are in order. All of the data I have reviewed thus far from your report have been completely accurate. It seems readily apparent Hojo was a threat that needed to be addressed. However, should similar circumstances occur again, I would appreciate it if you brought the matter to my attention rather than deciding to handle it yourselves.”

The SOLDIERs nodded, and Rufus turned his attention to their companion. “Mr. Valentine, I encourage you to rejoin the Turks. You are obviously well qualified, and the unit could use a few new members, especially with the death of former Turk Leader Veld. You would be given access to all data concerning our search for Professor Hojo as well.” Reno was intrigued by Strife’s flinch at the President’s offer, though the kid hid it pretty well,.

“I have no intention of rejoining ShinRa until after Hojo is dead — and I have had time to see where the company is going.” Valentine’s compelling red eyes caught and held Rufus’s own, but the President didn’t look away. “As for the information, I’m sure I will be able to handle that on my own.”

Reno found himself grudgingly impressed. It took either insanity or a hell of a lot of self-confidence to turn down a Shinra.

“…I see,” Rufus said after a long moment. “Regardless, I will still grant you access to our data. I’d rather not have you breaking into our systems. And should you ever wish to change your mind, the offer remains open.”

Strife relaxed ever so slightly; Valentine’s eyes flickered to the younger man, and he nodded briefly. Reno watched the pair, thinking hard. There was more than a casual relationship between the two of ‘em, but it wasn’t sexual in the least; the signs were all wrong for that. And yet Strife continued to respond to Valentine’s slightest cue, following his lead flawlessly. His eyes narrowed as a thought occurred to him. “Hey, wait a second—”

Everyone turned to stare at him. A part of Reno’s brain cheerfully informed him that Tseng was giving him the look that said he was gonna kill him for talking when he should keep quiet, but he ignored it. “Did he—” the Turk jerked his head at Vincent “—train you?”

The blond blinked for a second, then nodded.

Reno turned to Rude. “You let Vincent Valentine’s apprentice go?” he asked, incredulous. “He’s got to be prime Turk material!”

Strife blinked several times. “Wait… you were the one trailing me when I was here that first year? You were driving me insane!”

Rude raised an eyebrow. “You knew?”

“Of course I knew — I could barely get any sleep for worrying!” Strife looked exasperated.

“Then why the hell aren’t you a Turk?” Reno demanded. “Man, we could have been partners!”

“No way,” Strife snapped, doing an impression of General Sephiroth’s glare that, while actually pretty good, would’ve been hilarious in any other situation. Reno sighed heavily. The kid couldn’t still be upset about that incident a few months back, could he?

“That would have been… regrettable,” the General interjected. “SOLDIER Strife is a credit to his position.” Strife colored very prettily at that, and Sinclair smiled, pleased.

Reno was surprised that Sephiroth would speak up on the kid’s behalf; Sinclair was practically a given, but the General? The Turk knew he’d been working with the kid for a while now, but hadn’t realized Strife had made such an impression. Huh. Closer than I thought… or at least, as close as you can get to the Icicle General.

Rufus glanced between the four men, but said nothing, merely nodding. “Dismissed.” He waited to speak again until they had saluted and filed out, the soundproofed door closing behind them, in theory cutting off private conversations. “That was… interesting.”

“I was surprised you let Valentine go,” Tseng remarked, his expression neutral.

The President waved a dismissive hand. “He’s close by if we need him. Hojo’s experiments are not known for being constrainable or even particularly reasonable by ordinary standards. I’d value his service, but I also value my life. If it’s necessary, we’ll wory about… encouraging him to continue to work for our interests when the time comes.”

“I just wouldn’t threaten Strife, if I was you,” Reno warned.

“I wasn’t even considering it,” Rufus assured the Turk. “He has far too many well-placed allies. It would be… upsetting if we were to lose the General for such minor reasons.” The three Turks nodded. “Keep an eye on them, if you can.”

“They’ll know,” Rude pointed out.

The President shrugged. “Be as discreet as possible.”

“They’ll be expecting us to watch them,” Reno added. “We’re not exactly known for being the most unsuspicious bunch.”

Rufus merely nodded. “Shameful of us not to live up to expectations, then, isn’t it? In the meantime, I want Robert Matheson investigated. I want to know his connections, his weaknesses, his strengths.”

The name was familiar to Reno, though he couldn’t quite place it. “Wait… isn’t he part of the Science Department?”

“One of the few senior scientists that survived,” the President confirmed, and it clicked as Reno remembered the medical report after their run through the labs — Matheson was the guy with the knife. “I’m considering him for the new department head.”

“I’ll get on it,” Reno volunteered. He had done a bit of digging on the man already; it wasn’t every day one met a scientist who could take down one of Hojo’s creations.

Rufus nodded at that, dismissing the Turks with a wave of his hand. As they walked out the door, Reno muttered to his partner, “I still can’t believe you let Valentine’s apprentice go.”

Rude ignored him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Reeve was rarely interrupted during his day. The offices of the Department of Urban Development were tucked in a rather out-of-the-way section of the ShinRa building. He was not exactly in favor with the members of the ShinRa elite, and quite frankly preferred it that way.

So it was that when he heard sounds from the room next door, he was more than a bit surprised. Placing his pen down, Reeve walked into the usually unoccupied office to see a man unpacking a briefcase. “So,” he said with a smile of greeting, “who else have they banished over here?”

The man, well into his late forties if not early fifties, looked up in surprise. Reeve noted visible stress lines and graying hair with interest; he wondered if it was the passage of time alone that had given the man the marks of age, or something else. “Matheson,” the man said by way of introduction. He looked slightly embarrassed. “I, um, appear to be the new head of the Science Department.”

Reeve nodded. “I heard about the damage. I’m Reeve, head of the Department of Urban Development — don’t worry, you wouldn’t have heard of me,” he assured Matheson, who was looking a bit uncomfortable. “We aren’t really well known. Our job is pretty much keeping Midgar running.”

“Seems more important than the Space and Aeronautics Program,” Matheson muttered.

Reeve found himself smiling. “I suppose, but… well, you know how things are.”

“Were, at least.” Matheson dragged his hand through his hair. “The new President seems to have some interesting ideas as far as that has been concerned. I know he’s canceled several ongoing projects in my department within the last week.”

“He does seem to be changing quite a bit around here,” Reeve agreed. Hopefully for the better. “So, what are you doing down here, anyway?”

“Looking for a quiet place to work. The labs are a complete disaster — it’ll take at least three months to get them even habitable again, and who knows how long to replace all the equipment we lost.” He pulled out several thick files. “I need to figure out where the department is going. The President wants a preliminary report tomorrow.”

“Any ideas?” Reeve asked, intrigued.

“Actually, I’m looking into alternative energy sources.”

“Instead of Mako?” Reeve shook his head. “Good luck with that. It’s been the basis of the company for years.”

“Well, that’s going to have to change,” Matheson insisted. “There are too many negative side effects.”

Reeve frowned; he hadn’t heard of any before. “Like what?”

“The constant draining of the Lifestream beneath us is creating instabilities in the earth, for one thing, in addition to making the land infertile. Also, the reactors create several hazardous byproducts that, not being properly disposed of, are causing a variety of changes in people. Birth rates are down, with incidences of miscarriage and birth defects rising. The average age for girls starting puberty is decreasing, while oddly enough boys are having the opposite problem — especially when they’re from areas where the local reactors aren’t too close to their homes, because they haven’t developed much immunity to reactor byproducts. And sterility is also becoming more prevalent.”

“There’s no way this could have been hidden for so long,” Reeve protested. “What you’re talking about… it could be permanently crippling to the human race!”

“It’s taken a while to document… a lot of it was done by my mentor.” Matheson looked regretful. “Mako looked like such a good, healthy solution compared to coal and oil that people really paid no attention to the smaller, less obvious drawbacks — drawbacks that have only grown more serious as time’s gone on. Though how no one guessed is beyond me; there is plenty of documentation concerning the effects, particularly mutanagenic ones, Mako has on wildlife.”

Reeve nodded in understanding. “So what can we do about it?”

“We need to ease off reactor use as much as possible, but that will take time, especially if we want to avoid going back to equally hazardous methods of producing energy. I’m looking into solar and wind energy power…” Matheson sighed. “Wish we could get someone from Cosmo Canyon in here. I know they’ve been working with it for several years now, but they have a policy of avoiding contact with ShinRa, particularly members of our department.” He shook his head. “The other thing I want to do is come up with some way to get Mako byproducts back into circulation. Pulling the remains out of the air and water supply will help a lot, I think. There are some plants that do that naturally, but… well, you should know how difficult it is to grow things in Midgar, especially below the Plate.”

“I can’t do anything about the energy sources, but I might be able to do something about the plants,” Reeve offered, recalling something he’d sketched a bare-bones outline for a few years ago. “If we can sell the President on the idea, I might be able to find someone who could help us.”

“Really?” Matheson looked skeptical. “I haven’t seen a single growing thing in the city — or anywhere for miles around it, for that matter.”

Reeve smiled broadly. “Oh, you’d be surprised. If you’d step over to my office for a moment, I can show you a picture of the most beautiful place in Midgar.”


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