D.M.W.
A/N: I don't own Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.
Summary: Set before Crisis Core. "Shin-Ra is more than just an electric company, even if it's evil. For some, it represents progress. That said, it could be a little less... shady... That's why I joined up with Science Department. Enkidu, at your service."
Chapter One: Dreams
"Absolutely not," Genesis said firmly. "I refuse."
Lazard looked down at the paper before him as he sat at his desk and gave a simple nod of acknowledgment. Genesis was easy enough to read. Since Sephiroth had refused the assignment on the basis that the student would not get accurate results on her construct, Genesis would refuse on principle.
Still, it was somewhat amusing to watch Genesis try and justify his refusal. The red haired man often twisted himself into a logical pretzel to turn a simple no into a grandiose statement in the negative. It somewhat reminded Lazard of himself and he did not know whether that was good or bad.
"Pitting a SOLDIER First Class against some... student's robot is ridiculous," Genesis added after a moment. "It wouldn't last 2 seconds, let alone offer enough data to advance research on it. Besides, it's beneath dignity. Honestly, a student."
Lazard nodded again, his glasses seeming to obscure his eyes from Genesis. "Sephiroth said something similar."
Genesis' eyes sharpened ever so slightly at Lazard's words. The bait was taken.
"Still, the construct must be an impressive piece of work as the request for SOLDIER first class trials was formally made by the Science Department itself. Seems that student caught the eye of one of the higher ups."
"If they made the request than that means the machine has already faced the Security Forces.," Genesis replied.
"Decisively," Lazard added. "Actually, the machine has already faced a number of Seconds and Thirds. Unofficially, of course."
Genesis frowned. The red haired young man had considered himself up to date on SOLDIER bproceedings and could not recall hearing anything about weapon testing. "What kind of testing could this machine possibly need?"
"Hooked... Got to reel him in now," Lazard thought privately.
The blond haired man paused, scanning the mission outline for a second. His sky blue eyes met Genesis' mako infused ones. Finally, he responded, "This is a live ammunition test to be held in front of the entire Science Department, including Professor Hojo, as a part of Shin-Ra Science University's annual Demonstrated Science Event."
Lazard stopped himself from teasingly adding that Genesis would love having an audience to play to during the demo. However, the director of SOLDIER did not want to ruin his play.
Genesis gave an undignified grunt but finally acquiesced. "Fine. I'll show that student the true power of a SOLDIER First Class."
Lazard smiled to himself. Genesis was easy enough to handle, though his eagerness for recognition would probably be his downfall.
"Just remember that even though this is a demonstration, it's still live fire," Lazard cautioned.
Genesis shrugged, but said nothing as he swaggered out of the SOLDIER Director's office.
"Enki!"
The call echoed through the dark empty hallway of Shin-Ra Science University Bugenhagen Technical Research Building. Though it was not very loud, the shout still caught the young woman off guard. Enkidu turned to look at the person calling her with a small smile.
Her eyes were a clear, warm amber and almond shaped. Her bronze, heart shaped face was framed with a deep, dark brown bobbed hair. She was taller than average and most of her soft figure was hidden by a white lab coat that covered a simple black and white gradient patterned cotton dress that stopped just before her knees, accented with black, knee high boots.
"Good news! You're green on DSE!" Her professor announced suddenly.
"Yay!" She exclaimed quietly.
"You're the only one actually giving a battle demonstration and you have a SOLDIER First Class for your demonstration," He said pointedly. "This hardly needs to be said, but expectations must be met. Don't expect to be valedictorian or even salutatorian if you fail."
Enkidu's smile faded somewhat as Professor Aikuro leaned in closer. Aikuro was maybe a head taller with shaggy, raven hair with matching eyes. His overall look was dishelved from his white lab coat, to his white dress shirt, to his black dress pants. Still, he was an attractive sort.
At least Enkidu thought so.
"Keep a careful eye on Antlion," Aikuro warned sternly, "remember, there's always someone out to sabotage or steal good work for their own."
"Of course," she replied. "I didn't come this far to lose my prized work."
"Mmhmm," Aikuro responded evenly, "Let's meet later tonight. My place."
With that, the professor left and Enkidu found herself alone once again in the hallway. Meeting with Aikuro in a timely fashion might be difficult since Antlion would need to be upgraded and respecced for a first class encounter. Not to mention, the student council would need to discuss the final preparations for the Demonstrated Science Event.
Still, the excitement of showing off Antlion to the Science Department just filled her with excitement. Being recruited would be a dream come true.
"Yes!" Enkidu said as she pumped her fist. "Its finally going to happen."
"What's going to happen?"
Enkidu jumped slightly at the voice. "Fuhito! I am gonna show Antlion off at DSE."
The wispy, young man with deceptively spiky, dark brown hair and eyes, with appropriate nerd glasses, appeared behind her suddenly.
"That's old news Enkidu," Fuhito replied, slightly irritated. "It's only natural that top ranked students show at the event."
"Ah, but Antlion's going up against SOLDIER... First class."
"Now that is interesting," Fuhito conceded, "very interesting..."
"What about you Fuhito? You're showing too, right?"
"Yes," Fuhito answered coolly, "but I doubt it will have the impact of your Antlion. With my luck, I'll end up in the Urban Planning Department."
Enkidu chuckled at Fuhito's dark tone. Shin-Ra Science University had a pecking order for the Shin-Ra science departments. First was the glorious Science Department, followed distantly by Weapons Development and Urban Planning. No one wanted to be recruited into the emerging Space Department. Even the students knew that department was going nowhere fast.
"That's not true. Conserving mako is very important!" Enkidu chided playfully. "At least until an alternative can be found. Have you made any headway into your other project."
Fuhito frowned at the mention of his other work. "No. At the moment, it's far too expensive to even synthesize the kind of glass I need. Shin-Ra would need to back me and I don't see that happening anytime soon."
"I see," Enkidu said sullenly, "but don't give up on it. I think your project can do a lot of good in this world."
Fuhito gave the young woman a charitable smile, though he had doubts that Shin-Ra would so easily welcome a new power source. Especially one that it couldn't patent nor wield absolute control over.
"Now, now. I don't want to see that long face," Fuhito said firmly. "Anyway, I was told to deliver a message to you from the dean, if I saw you."
"I am listening."
"He wants you and the other members of the student council to eliminate any problematic showings from the DSE. Since you got SOLDIER involved in all this, apparently Lazard, Heidegger, and Scarlet are making an appearance on top of the Science Department higher ups."
Enkidu scratched the back of her head sheepishly. Heidegger and Scarlet were prominent Shin-Ra executives always on the lookout for new R and D personnel. Lazard was an up and coming executive for the newly formed SOLDIER division.
"Thought it might be something like that," Enkidu acknowledged slowly.
Fuhito nodded and replied, "The road to Shin-Ra is paved in broken lives and broken dreams. Remember that."
Enkidu sighed and answered, "Actually, I am trying to forget that."
"Well, don't. Shin-Ra may make a lot of progress, but if you're not careful..." Fuhito warned seriously.
Enkidu remained silent.
"Well anyway, if you need me, I'll be in the lab over in Gast," Fuhito said quickly. "I'd like very much if you could stop by and view my mako efficiency tests."
Enkidu nodded, "Sure. I've got some respeccing to do though over in the Tuesti Robotics Building. If not today, then tomorrow."
"Good morning, Starshine!" sang Enkidu to the sleeping giant mech in front of her. "Gaia says hello..."
With a deep and rhythmic hum, the machine started up in the large, mostly empty room save a pair of consoles and chairs, and Enkidu's necessary work tools located by the wall, near center. The room itself was featureless with the exception of a row of four narrow windows, located close to the high ceiling.
The light that shone through hinted at dusk. Before long it's diesel engine roared to life. To Enkidu, it was the most wonderful sound in the world. As the machine started up, Enkidu logged onto the console to activate the Doodle Program, which allowed her to monitor the drone's feed and better manually coordinate the actions of Antlion and the drones.
Antlion was nearly identical to Shin-Ra's basic Sweeper model of robots. The most notable difference was it's considerably larger size, and the overall color scheme was a matte black and dark blue. It also possessed a larger, wider grill and was capable of both autonomous and piloted combat functions.
Although it was still in testing, Antlion was also capable of limited flight capability with flight mode. This was accomplished with the combination of it's lift system in the robot's under carriage and it's hidden rear thrusters. Currently, the lift-thrust system could only hover a couple of feet off the ground.
What made Antlion the superior to any Sweeper model though was it's drone system. Six small, aerial, insect inspired vehicles captured real time information on the battlefield to communicate the ever changing situation to Antlion. In essence, as the fight evolved, so did Antlion and it's tactics.
Enkidu smiled at her creation as she returned to standing in front of it. Antlion was a game changer to be sure. It was truly the culmination of twenty years of hard work. As Antlion awoke, it ran through it's initial start up tests, just like a runner stretches before a race.
Priority one was awakening the drones, which buzzed to life with ease. The second was warm up, where the energy materia infused engine would power up and signal the machine was operating at one hundred percent with a mass release of heat and black smoke. The final stage is quick testing of weapons, flights, and drone communication. All told, the process takes 120 seconds.
The sudden change in temperature signal the end of stage two.
Antlion quickly cycled through it's systems checked and hopped closer to the much smaller girl. It's grill glistened slightly with condensation from the engine's output.
"Aw, Antlion is so cute," Enkidu said to the machine quietly, "I've got good news about DSE. We get to go up against the new SOLDIER program! Isn't that wonderful?"
Antlion hovered around briefly, as if it patrolled the area.
"If we do well, we're one step closer to the dream."
Antlion continued about, though this time it elected to stomp about the research lab.
"I've heard lots about the SOLDIER program though, it could be tough. That's why I am hoping to upgrade your flight capabilities and adjust your tactical memory on the Seconds and Thirds you've already faced. Maybe some better armor, if I have the time. But, I can tell you're already up for it!"
The large machine stopped and swayed in place, as if practicing a pose of some kind.
Before Enkidu could even start her next sentence, the area was rocked with a massive explosion. The young woman could almost feel the force of the blast to her very core. Enkidu was knocked on her rear as the building fiercely shook from the explosion of power.
For a second, Enkidu thought that maybe her Antlion had exploded. Or that someone screwed up very badly over in the Scarlet Volatile Research Materials Center. After the initial shock, an alarm went off.
It was not a typical fire alarm. It was more like a security alarm.
"We're under attack?" Enkidu questioned incredulous.
A sudden burst of gunfire quickly answered her question.
"Antlion! Drones! Defensive posture, search and rescue, cooperate with any first responders. Go!" Enkidu ordered as she climbed to her feet.
The Antlion and it's drones deployed within seconds, leaving Enkidu alone in the now darkened room. Enkidu hurried over to the lab's main door and closed and locked it. She did the same to the second door, effectively sealing herself in. She then rushed over to her console and readied the drone monitors and microphone.
