"Bauer!"

"Rea! No!"

The girl screamed; a blood-curdling, horrible sound. A chilling, altered laugh accompanied it.

"Rea!" the boy roared, his voice shattered from his racking sobs.

The screams ended, never to begin again.

"NO!"


He woke up.

"Good morning, Master Bauer," the omnipresent man greeted him.

The man panted, sweat pouring down his shirtless form. He ran a hand through his dark hair and unleashed a strangled sigh.

"The same dream again?" the other man asked him, his voice showing no concern or sympathy whatsoever.

Bauer nodded, still panting.

"Your uniform is prepared, sir. The Restrictor has summoned you."

"Thank you, Usher."

The man – Usher – nodded and stepped out.

Bauer eyed his uniform. Black, with stripes of blue neon running through it. Unlike most basic troops, he did not wear the regulation-issue helmet. He sighed and pulled it on. Best to get this over with, he glumly told himself. Being summoned by the Restrictor is rarely a good thing.

He stepped out of his room and walked past a few other troops. "Hail Deepground!" they shouted, saluting him.

He returned their salute half-heartedly. "Hail Deepground." He kept walking, straight into the office of the Restrictor.

His master wore a flowing black and blue robe, and a stylised helm on his head. When he spoke, his voice came out as a metallic, frightening thing.

"Sir!" Bauer straightened. "You summoned me, sir."

"Indeed," the Restrictor murmured hollowly, placing the file he was reading onto the desk. "I am recommending you be promoted to full Tsviet status."

Bauer's eyes widened. "Sir?"

"Did you not hear me?" The enigmatic man sounded amused. "I am recommending you be trained to become a Tsviet."

"A Tsviet, sir?"

The helm moved in a nod. "You would be working with the likes of Rosso the Crimson, Azul the Cerulean… Weiss the Immaculate…"

Bauer gasped quietly. Weiss was a living legend.

"You will begin your training under Argento. Understood?"

"Yes sir!"

Though Bauer could not see it, he was sure the Restrictor smiled. "Excellent. Leave me."

He saluted and left the office quietly.


In another room, the small girl removed the strange headset; her blue eyes glowed orange briefly. "Bauer Fray," she said in a robotic voice.

The gigantic man thudded behind her. He had blue lights carved across his face. "What of him?" he rumbled.

"He is to be promoted to Tsviet."

The man chuckled lowly. "This will be intriguing. Isn't he your target?"

The girl nodded. "I have been performing a nightly SND on him for the past five years." Her blank face broke into a smirk. "He will be the perfect pawn for Lord Weiss."


The simulation was brutal. Bauer's twin pistols were working overtime battling the holographic WRO troops. It was, apparently, only a matter of time before Deepground rose from the ashes of Midgar and waged war on the World Regenesis Organization.

The harsh voice of Argento pierced his mind. "Focus, Bauer!" she sneered.

He gritted his teeth and opened fire upon the false enemies once again.

An older man in a long blue robe appeared before him. The man's bearded face was curled in a sneer, and his black hair appeared to be well-loved. He clutched a battered old rifle.

Without hesitation, Bauer raised both his pistols and shot the man in the chest. He stumbled and would have fallen had he not disintegrated into data before he landed on the hard metal floor.

Argento walked towards him, clapping ironically. "Well done. Mercy is not a weakness a Tsviet should have. Now, if only that had been the real Reeve Tuesti."

Bauer chose to ignore her.

"I am speaking to you," she sneered. "You will look at me when I…"

He wheeled and pointed a pistol at her head. "If you're looking to provoke me," he said from behind clenched teeth, "you succeeded. Now, unless you want your silver-coated brains spread across the walls, be quiet."

Argento's eyes flashed, then she smiled. A laugh escaped her throat. "Excellent. I think you're ready for the test."

He lowered the gun and eyed her suspiciously. "Test?"

She nodded. "Tomorrow, you will battle a Tsviet and numerous Deepground soldiers. Be victorious, and you will be a Tsviet yourself. Fail… Well…" She chuckled evilly. "Let's just say that not many people survive long after failing."

Cautious, he placed one hand on his gun. "Is that a threat?"

She shook her head, amused. "No. It's a promise."


"I will make her suffer," the man sneered, "and then you will suffer yourself!"

"Bauer, run!" the girl screamed, clutching at the arm wrapped around her neck.

"No!" Bauer refused. "I made a promise to keep you safe, Rea!"

The stranger cackled. "How sweet. A promise for a girl's hero to keep her safe."

Bauer clenched his fists and teeth in hatred.

"All for naught." The man placed one hand on Rea's head and spun her neck to one side with a sickening snap.

"REA!"


He bolted upright, panting heavily. He massaged his head to rid himself of the dull headache.

It got worse every night. The cause of death of this girl – his sister Rea, if the dreams were to be believed – changed every night, but always at the hands of this shady man. Oddly, he felt as if he was well-acquainted with him.

"Your examination is today, Master Bauer," Usher told him, appearing from nowhere.

Bauer nodded and walked towards his uniform.

Usher blocked his way. "The Restrictor has instructed that you are to wear this." He indicated a uniform vaguely similar to his own, though it had no sleeves and bore a grey chestplate with the Deepground logo. Heavy metallic gloves also sat with the uniform. Bauer nodded and changed into the new uniform; unsurprisingly, it fit perfectly.

"I am allowed to inform you of the details of your examination," Usher began.

Bauer nodded and looked at him, silently urging him to continue.

"You will be battling numerous generic troops on your way to your Tsviet target: Shelke the Transparent."

"Shelke?"

Usher nodded. "She is a technical genius who wields energy batons. Her speed is impressive, and she has the ability to blend in with her surroundings. Despite her diminutive size, she is a formidable opponent."

"Diminutive size?" Bauer mused to himself. He turned back to his mentor. "Care to elaborate?"

Usher nodded again. "Shelke was…recruited…by Deepground eight years ago at the age of nine. She receives daily injections of mako to keep her youthful form; without it, she will die."

Bauer's eyes widened.

"Never mind that," Usher said then. "You are late. Go."

"Yes sir," he saluted ironically.


Bauer shot the final trooper in the chest. The bullets he was using were sedative; Deepground would not lose any troops to the Lifestream today…with the possible exception of himself, should he fail.

He heard minute steps behind him. He pointed a gun into what seemed to be open air.

The air glimmered and a girl who appeared to be only nine appeared. Her blue eyes were devoid of any life, and she wore a uniform similar to his own. "Impressive," she said tonelessly.

His impassive expression did not change.

"I had not expected you to discover me so easily, if at all," Shelke the Transparent continued, drawing her batons from their holsters on her legs. She activated them and her eyes flashed orange. "Unfortunately, your journey to Tsviet ends here." She leapt at him with inhuman speed.

Bauer managed to roll and dodge the attack; he wheeled and fired his pistols at her. She ran along the walls, flailing her batons fiercely. Bauer's guns clicked empty, and in that moment Shelke struck.

Bauer delivered a kick to her abdomen, sending her flying. He used that brief reprieve to reload and resume fire. One of his sedative bullets hit her in the leg, and it went numb. She slumped to her knees, and Bauer launched forward and shot her in the chest. She gasped and fell.

Bauer spun his pistols and holstered them, staring down at the unconscious form.

A slow clap began from somewhere. He looked up to see that Weiss was the one who'd clapped. His face was blank, his eyes covered by his white hair. Beside him, his brother Nero stood impassive, his arms crossed in his straitjacket. Nearby, Rosso and Azul also started clapping. Rosso's face was twisted in a sadistic grin.

All around him, people started clapping, congratulating him on his success. The Restrictor stood impassive.

He had made it. He was a Tsviet.