Blood: Chapter 2 – Coffee and air conditioning

'The threat of Meteor is still at the forefront of public concern. In an earlier interview with a community spokesman we learned that blame is largely on the Shinra Company for the event. Public support for the AVALANCHE group is growing rapidly within the city of Midgar. To see how the statistics measure up around the world, we go first to Anna in Junon. Anna-'

Evan switched the television off, reaching for the cafetiere standing beside it on the counter. "Hacks. Tabloid hacks, the lot of them."

Reno and Rude looked up from their card game, but said noting. Neither of them were in the mood to incur the wrath of Evan Reilly, playing verbal tennis with him not an attractive prospect right then. In truth, that was a wise decision, "What do they expect us to do?" Evan asked aloud, stirring an unhealthy amount of sugar into his coffee, "We're just people. Does working for the Shinra make you superhuman now or something? We're all just ordinary men and women, no more capable of getting rid of Meteor than anyone else."

"SOLDIER aren't normal." Reno announced suddenly, looking up from his cards and fixing Evan with a sincere stare, "They're a bunch of freaks." Rude nodded his agreement.

Evan said nothing, brushing his short brown hair behind his ears and leaning hard on the counter top. He looked round at Elena as she piped up, hiding on the sofa behind a fashion magazine as she was, "They can't stop Meteor."

"They can sure as hell summon." Evan's murmured remark did not register, Elena continuing,

"People think it's up to the whole Company to stop it, and that's bad for us." Rude nodded again, the memory of an unprovoked street attack springing to mind.

Once again, Evan remained silent. Talking was pointless, it could change nothing. Instead he stared into his coffee, watching the bubbles swirling in the middle of the cup. Elena was right. The people did expect Shinra to stop Meteor. They were supposed to wave a magic wand and make it go away, no problem, no repercussions, no effort. The world just didn't work like that. The Shinra were in a tight spot, truth be told. Do the impossible: stop Meteor. Failure to do so would not be tolerated. It almost sounded like an army recruitment poster.

He stood straight, rubbing the small of his back tenderly with one hand, thoughtfully fingering one lapel with the other. What could Shinra do, really? Kill Sephiroth? Destroy Meteor? How? Rufus and his immediate lackeys had something lined up, but what were the chances of it working?

'Don't be so fucking pessimistic.' He scolded himself mentally, 'The most we can do is stay optimistic and try. There's nothing else for it."

"Yo, Evan." Reno's voice snapped him out of it.

"Hmmmm?"

"Just asking, but what are you going to do when this is all over?" Strange question.

"The same things I always do. Why, are you thinking of leaving the Company?"

Reno shook his head, tilting his chair back to put his feet up on the table in front of him, knocking the cards and chips all over, much to Rude's annoyance. "Nah, just asking you something before you flew off to la la land for good. Can't lose your head right now." This caught Evan off guard. Since when had Reno cared about him? "We gotta stick together in times like this." The red head explained suddenly, prompting Evan to wonder if he was psychic. "Sure we're just following orders, that's all we ever do. But we all gotta support each other. Turks look out for their own." With that he lay his hand on the table and swiped all the chips to his chest. Rude looked suitably stunned, throwing his own cards down and folding his arms across his chest.

"Thank you for your concern, Reno, but my state of mind is no worry of yours." Picking up his coffee, Evan held it a moment, revelling in the warmth of it between his palms. The wreck room was surprisingly cold. Maybe it was Reno with his hot blood, turning the AC up on full again. He had said nothing about it, and Rude an Elena seemed oblivious to it also. Maybe it was just him. Could he be coming down with something other than acute stress? "See you all later." He left the room in a breeze of shivers and coffee steam.

Walking the short distance to his office, Evan felt strangely alone. He could see Meteor hanging over him through the windows, reminding him of his own mortality. As if he weren't aware of it already. He quickened his pace, taking long strides through the door and falling back against it to force it closed, spilling coffee on the polished floor. No wonder he felt lonely with that thing glaring down at him all hours of the day or night.

This was ridiculous. Straightening, he crossed to his desk and put his cup down beside a stack of progress reports. He had been playing this gig far too long to let something get to him, no matter how big or small it were. Thirty years was a long time to work in any business, and almost a record in this field. His legs protesting about the day's activity, Evan collapsed in his chair. Somebody should do something about that dammed rock soon. There had to be something someone could do.

He breathed a deep and tired sigh, crossing one leg over the other and twirling his chair to and fro. Once again he was alone in the office, his two colleagues out doing their own thing. That was just the way things were; though the three of them were a team, they very rarely worked together. They shared a strong sense of camaraderie, but that was as close as it got. Team in name only it seemed.

Their desks were deserted, the names 'Tessi McCarnon' and 'Rose Jennings' cast in gold the only real tie to their owners.

This whole thing was starting to get old. For years now he had followed the same routine - go to work, write up some progress reports, head off to military school, go home. Evan Reilly, Rose Jennings and Tessi McCarnon were teachers, affectionately known as the Senior Turks. They were charged with training the next generation of Shinra Turks for active duty. Quite a task, considering the nature of the work.

Presented with a list of hopefuls from all over, the three of them would choose two trainees each and pass on all they knew. Occasionally they would chop and change trainees with each other depending on what the youngsters chose to specialise in. For materia and general weaponry they were with him, Tessi taught martial arts and self-defence while Rose was the firearms master. Most sessions were a one to one thing, so there was little or no need for a second fully fledged Turk to be present. It should be a riveting job.

Really, Evan found himself bored. You only made it to Senior Turk if you were considered worthy. It was an honour to wear that black, button-up uniform. Yet it bored you to tears. You were in a position to impart knowledge onto those ready to listen and learn, but there was only so many times you could explain the technicalities of aiming a rifle allowing for kickback and windage before it got monotonous. Perhaps the most valuable benefit was that you would never see active service again - no more personal danger, you operated in complete secrecy and with total anonymity. That had been a great attraction at the time, but now it seemed like a small reward for an overly high price.

His thoughts were broken by the jangly Debut tone from his phone. It was a text message:

'Can you relay a message to Rufus for me? It's done, but some trouble with publicity and minor repairs needed to non-Company equipment. Thanks.

Rose

XXXX'

Done? Already? By God she was quick. When had he trained her to be so God dammed efficient? Evan shook away his initial surprise, downing his coffee and getting to his feet. Though Senior Turks never officially saw active duty, Rufus seemed to have started using them as his personal messengers. Or more specifically, Rose. Heidegger was unaware of this, though it was not beyond Evan or his subordinates to 'forget' certain information snippets. Rufus seemed to have a slippery memory also. Funny that.

Rufus' errand girl had breezed out of the office that morning, her explanation that Rufus had a job for her. That meant someone somewhere was a marked man. Talking was not Rose's strong point, it never had been. She let her guns do the talking, they were far more eloquent than she would ever be, crazy little cowgirl.

Evan switched on to the task at hand, picking up his phone and depositing it safely in his inside jacket pocket. Rufus must be in a board meeting if Rose had chosen to have the message relayed. It made sense not to disturb him while he was busy. Well, the day was almost done, and once he had done Rose this favour, there was somewhere he had to go. Somewhere Meteor did not exist.

(Note: First two chapters for you to look over. This is a weird one - I first wrote this back in school, so in about 2004, and it's undergoing a re-write because I really like it. Basically it is one massive exercise in original character creation, and testing out some ideas I had. The main one was that there had to be someone to train Turks while they were still in military school, so I came up with the senior Turks. Ah well, gimme a review and let me know what you think and what could do with improvements.)