Rufus Shinra could not help being restless as he allowed himself to be wheeled along the unfamiliar corridor, Reno at his back, looking about distractedly as they made their way down the sterile hallway. The office building was plain, dull; everything pristine and white and utterly without personality. It was merely a stand-in; a handful of surviving Shinra employees had made it their base of operations, namely a few city planners, architects, and a few who were formerly of the company's lauded Research and Development department. It was these few that Rufus had been summoned by today, and it had been requested that he bring others with him. Reno and Rude were able-bodied enough, and he had to admit, though grudgingly, that they were not quite the imbeciles he often wished them to be.
It was conditioning, perhaps. Too many years surrounded by idiots kow-towing to his father. It felt very strange, he thought, to find himself in the midst of competence.
Rude, for his own part, followed quietly a pace behind and to the left, as he always had. Eyes on their surroundings with the faintest edge of suspicion. He had no reason to trust the build of the facility, or, in all honestly, the intent of those who'd summoned them. The world was a dangerous place, these days, for the officials of Shinra, in a way it had never been before.
He checked his watch at a glance, wondering if it were still light outside. There were no windows in this place to judge by.
Reno let out a sigh that was perhaps a bit heftier than it had any right to be as they approached a door at the end of the hallway. He paused, slowing the president's wheelchair to a stop as he leaned forward to squint at the name that was written, neatly, on a card that served as a temporary plate. Another moment passed and he shifted his sunglasses so that they were perched atop his head, keeping the fact that he had just been thinking it was awfully dark for two in the afternoon all to himself. "Professor Charles Ingram. He'd be the one, yes?"
Rufus gave only the slightest nod in response. "Yes. Formerly of our science division. I would say a former employee, but I believe he is still on our payroll."
"...Yes." Rude supplied evenly, hoping it would be considered helpful rather than annoying. Tseng had briefed them earlier, before vanishing somewhere with Elena on what he had oh so tactfully, and emotionlessly referred to as a recon mission.
And frankly, Rude was happy to leave it at that.
"Reno," Rufus issued his name as a command, quiet and collected as he had strived so hard to remain since he had first been injured. Despite all the frustration and irritation that had come with working on rebuilding his company from the ground up, he refused to let it get to him. Once you lost control, people stopped respecting you. Stopped fearing you. He might have been in a chair, but he was still an excellent shot. It was more than enough, for many people. Obedience was still something he was quite accustomed to.
Reno stepped around the chair to open the door that blocked their path, nodding for Rude to hold it just long enough for him to wheel the president through. The office the door revealed was small, pristine and newly-painted as the rest of the building had been; not quite lived-in but perhaps with some potential, if whoever used it didn't care that it would undoubtedly be crowded. A pair of doors, both glass and metal, were at the back wall, and the front office itself held two desks and a number of gray and black filing cabinets. At the nearest and largest desk sat a man who looked to be a few years older than the three of them, though perhaps not by much. He looked up from his desk as they entered, peering out at them from behind a crooked pair of wire-rimmed glasses, his hair an unkempt dirty blond.
He smiled, congenial, rising from his seat and crossing the small office in a few strides, offering the president his hand fearlessly. "President Shinra, how nice to see you again. Thank you for coming on such short notice."
Rufus eyed the hand, briefly, as though it might be fatal before taking hold of it, giving it a professional, business-like shake before releasing, his smile thin and polite. "Professor Ingram. It's been some time."
Rude watched with the air of man ready to shoot at any moment, but from the corner of his eye, he caught the red of Reno's hair. Exchanged a brief look.
Was this guy serious?
Reno caught Rude's glance in his peripheral vision and gave him a similar look in return. Pleasantries were dull and unnecessary, the president was a businessman who did not like his time to be taken up with false cheer. That, and this was really cutting into what was supposed to be Reno's afternoon off. He hoped that somewhere, deep down, the professor realized he was keeping one very dedicated lush from his beer.
"I won't waste your time, Mr. President," the professor said a moment later, and Reno felt the tiniest surge of relief. "I called you here to discuss a project that would be beneficial to your plans to rebuild the company. My assistant and I have been working to salvage what information I could from the department's database. There are a lot of loose ends that have been left... untied, to put it lightly."
The door closed behind them as Reno shifted the president's chair so that he was facing the desk, causing Professor Ingram to take a few steps back so that he could face the three of them at once. "I had suspected as much," Rufus said evenly, inclining his head just slightly, interested.
"If we had information on what Professor Hojo had left unfinished, we would be able to locate the remains of his work and destroy them. It would be an aid to the general populace, but also good for PR," Ingram reasoned. "Show the world the new face of Shinra. Clean up the reputation a bit."
Rude felt what might have been a full bodied wince in another man. As it was, he stood stonefaced, watching the professor behind mirrored glasses. The shift in his shoulders was amusement. He could almost hear Reno's "Hallelujah."
"I see," Rufus began, steepling his long fingers in thought, glancing down at them as he mulled over the professor's words. "And what part do you wish me to play in this? I assume you want funding, and for it to be sanctioned by the company. Those I can give you. You are still considered an employee of Shinra, Inc. Your paperwork is in order, I kept you in the files and set you up here with the intention to keep you on. You have done much for the company in past years. Research is not my forte, Professor, and so I am curious, then, as to exactly what you require?"
"Funding is not necessary," Ingram explained quickly, shaking his head and causing his glasses to slide down the bridge of his nose. "Research is my field, yes, but there is more than just files in these labs. At least in the nearest one. I went in to retrieve what I could on my own this past week, but the place is filled with sentries. Automated security set up by Professor Hojo to attack anyone who disturbs the place, regardless of their ties to the company. They're not much, but my combative skills are... lacking, to say the least." He paused, then nodded towards the men who stood behind the president's chair.
"I was hoping your men here would be willing to accompany my assistant to the nearest lab. It's here in Edge, won't take much of your time, but the files there would be an excellent start and would give us a leg up."
Rude made the effort to glance at Reno with the turn of his head this time.
Well. Couldn't be any worse than fighting the spikey headed bastard and his entourage, right?
Reno met Rude's gaze and grimaced. "Beer," he mouthed silently, and pouted distinctly afterwards.
"Whether or not they mind is beside the point," Rufus said congenially, and offered a smile that was far friendlier and more dazzling than most. An assurance that he could be bothered to spare his business associates. Reno flinched, knowing it was just the Prez rubbing salt into the wound. As he so often did. "They're at your disposal, Professor." His smile hitched a bit to one side, turning into a very distinct smirk. "Is immediately soon enough?"
Professor Ingram began to chuckle, a sound that was cut short by the furthest door opening. A brunette woman in a labcoat appeared, letting it shut behind her without aid, a dossier tucked neatly under one arm as she used her free hand to tuck a pen over her left ear. She paused at the middle of the office, giving a polite smile as she greeted Rufus with a short, clipped, "Good afternoon, Mr. President." She managed to stave off the wince that came with spotting Reno for at least two seconds before she had to give.
"Miss Caraway will be accompanying you, gentlemen," Ingram supplied. Reno only smirked in response to the woman's actions.
Rude rolled his eyes behind the glasses. Well, at least now Reno had something to amuse himself. That meant his friend wouldn't be sulking the entire trip.
Rufus was suddenly the perfect picture of beatific peace, gesturing widely towards the door. "I'll keep the good doctor company while you all take care of this little outing. We have business to discuss, but there's no reason you can't get a head start on the project, now, is there?" His smile remained, calm and pleasant, and Reno supressed the urge to shudder as he stepped towards the door.
"Of course. Right. Efficiency," he agreed, not nearly so half-hearted as he would have sounded just moments before. He held the door open and gestured, eyes on the woman in the white coat as he continued to smirk. "Ladies first, Lyla."
Lyla grimaced, though only for a moment, exhaling and forcing a smile to her lips as she crossed the threshold into the hallway, heels clicking against the sterile white tile. "This won't take long," she informed them in an no-nonsense sort of voice. "The old lab is near here, and I have clearance to use the doors and computers. It's just the security we can't override."
Rude followed the pair of them, catching the door without a flinch as Reno dropped it. Pausing a half beat before continuing behind. It was just as well, he decided, if he let them have at least four feet to stay out of casual friendly-fire range.