FINAL FANTASY VII
What Is Left Behind
PROLOGUE
"...The first time I heard of Midgar, I was seven or so. "The city of Limitless Energy" is what my mom called it, I think. The Shinra agents who came out every now and then kept telling us, "Midgar is where the action is", "No one lives in rural towns like this anymore", or my personal favorite, "Your reactor is long gone. Why don't you all just pack up and leave?" For many in Gongaga, the answer is pretty straightforward: this is our home. They've all been in this tiny little hamlet for a century or two, my own family not included. The hustle and bustle of the city ain't for us country-folk, and if talk's correct, Midgar isn't a worthwhile place to live in anymore.
"And then, when I was around eleven, Zack left us for Midgar. We heard he moved up to SOLDIER First Class pretty quickly, and even traveled with Sephiroth himself. He sent us letters every now and again, but we haven't heard from him since he went to Nibelheim. That was five years ago, and Gramps still says he's coming home. I'm not so sure, though—anyone gone for that long without word is either dead or they are afraid to come home. Shinra reported that Sephiroth had died in an accident at the reactor, but I don't believe that either. Zack's probably been dead for a while, and they just don't even care to send us a letter about it.
"But from the sound of things, someone's stepping up to stick it to the Shinra. Everyone by now I'm sure has heard the rumors: AVALANCHE has bombed two of the Mako reactors within the city. They're supposedly terrorists living in a lowly hovel in the slums, but Shinra would make up anything to build themselves up. I like the idea of that: poor, penniless anti-heroes against The Man. It's like something out of a story that Gwendy's always burying her nose into.
"Y'know, that may be a good place to start..."
/ Page 6 of Izek's journal, found outside Midgar in the aftermath of Meteor