Chapter Three - Contemplation
After a few more thorough scans to confirm that his injuries were regenerating sufficiently, Zack had been ordered to rest and relax in the medical wing, not to leave until he had been fully debriefed by his superiors, nor was he to discuss the events of Nibelhiem with anyone. The matter had been deemed classified, top level clearance only. Clearly the executives wanted to keep everything quiet. A part of him understood why they might want to keep Sephiroth's death a secret. The loss of their greatest warrior would make Shinra weak in the eyes of their enemies, such as the remnants of Wutai just waiting for an opening to attack.
But on the other hand, innocent blood had been spilled. The devastated town of Nibelhiem deserved better than to be brushed under the rug like they weren't important, no matter how it affected Shinra's security. These people had been murdered, Cloud's family and friends. What of Tifa? Was she to be simply swept away to conceal the truth?
Still, this was all just conjecture for now. After all, Shinra didn't even have his report yet. He was just imagining things, Tifa would be fine. She had Cloud to protect her. He would never let her be harmed, he would tear down the tower and everyone within to defend her. Once he had given his report the people of Nibelhiem would be honoured the way they deserved. But this seemed to be a no win situation. If the truth was revealed, Shinra could be crippled and Cloud thrown to an angry mob. If Shinra covered it up, they would protect their own interests, but at the cost of the people of Nibelhiem, and no doubt placing the future of the survivors in jeapordy, including Cloud, Tifa and himself.
Stop it, he told himself. Overanalyzing this was stressing him out, not what he needed when trying to recover from serious physical and emotional trauma. He pressed the call button by his bed and demanded the return of his phone. While the green clad orderly initally refused, an oath that he would not discuss his mission with anyone finally won Zack his phone. He saw he had a message from Cissnei waiting for him, but that could wait for now. He had someone else to call. Someone who was better for him than any medical facility.
***
It only took a few hours for the doctors to work their magic on Tifa's injuries, and soon she found herself recovering in the medical wing. Zack had been called to the Soldier floor shortly after she had regained consciousness, taking Cloud with him as directed. They hadn't been gone long but she was already uneasy. Shinra had just taken everything from her. She didn't want to be anywhere near them ever again.
Still, they had saved her. Well, Cloud had. And he was with Shinra. So they weren't all bad. And Zack had been nothing but kind to her. Cloud had told her of Zack's use of curative magic in an effort to stabilise her back in the reactor. While it was true that Sephiroth had been responsible for the calamity that robbed her of her town, her friends, her entire life. But perhaps there were a few more good people in here. The medics that cared for her, the helicopter pilot that had flown them here all the way from Nibelhiem. Zack had spoken of friends he had here, people he had served with on many missions that he cared for.
Maybe she should not tar all of Shinra with the same brush as Sephiroth. Perhaps those who did whatever was done to him to turn him mad, maybe the executives that allowed it all, but maybe the people of the company were just normal people trying to get by. She couldn't hate them for that.
But nor could she ever forgive those responsible for her suffering and the death of her father. Sephiroth was dead, apparantly struck down by Cloud which she found somewhat difficult to believe, but there were others that must be held responsible for their crimes. One day they would be brought to justice. The people of Nibelhiem could never redt in peace while their killers roamed free. She could not allow that.
***
The Soldier barracks floor was in turmoil. With key members of the command structure still missing and rumours of Sephiroth's death had naturally begun to spread. Zack was now the sole active Soldier First Class, with Angeal dead and Genesis still rogue. The entire floor was packed with the remaining members of Soldier, recalled from across the globe to be on hand should the situation escalate out of control. Zack saw the chaos in their eyes as they wandered around aimlessly, waiting for further orders. He called for attention and the entire floor snapped to rigid posture, their focus entirely on him.
"I'm sure you're all worried, gentlemen. We're on our way to report right now, you'll all be informed of what you need to know shortly. Until then, I suggest you find something a little more constructive to do with your time. Kunsel, you here?" Zack bellowed, making sure everyone heard him. A young man in a purple Second Class uniform stepped forward and nodded to his old friend. "Kunsel, take these greenhorns into the holographic training room. Set up some sort of exercise, maybe a large scale attack on the Shinra building, been a while since we've run them through that. You've got my authorisation to use the room. Keep them busy until they can be more useful."
Kunsel saluted his friend and superior, and began to lead the others through the doors on the far side of the floor. The crowd murmured quietly to themselves as they left but at least they would be making use of their time. Zack allowed himself a grin. Even with all that was happening, they still knew how to follow orders. He pointed towards the office and led the way.
***
At the peak of the tower, president Shinra sat at his desk, his senior staff gathered around him, his head resting in his palms as he ran over the facts one final time. This was a situation they had all hoped would never happen. The loss of Sephiroth would have been hard enough, but for him to have taken out almost an entire town with him was beyond disasterous. What was worse was the lack of any clear way forward. A cover up would save face regarding Nibelhiem, but how to explain to the masses what happened to Sephiroth? No cover up could prevent the escape of the truth of his disappearance. What then?
Every choice seemed to merely delay the inevitable or simply make the situation even more complex. Zack had returned and given his full report, the truth was known to all senior staff now. The only discrepency within the report had been that Zack claimed he dealt the final blow while the other man guarded the civilian they had returned with. When presented with the security footage he had explained his covering for his friend and his logic seemed sound. Besides, if the truth was ever made public nobody would believe a lowly and tired guard could have defeated the pride of Shinra so easily.
As he looked upon his senior staff sat at the table opposite, he was dismayed to see them looking as blank as he was. Except for Scarlett and professor Hojo, who seemed deep in thought. Hojo paced up and down, muttering away to himself, sounding quite insane. Scarlett sat quietly, her thoughts strictly internal. The president watched them quietly, pleased that at least somebody had some ideas. He gestured for them to share their thoughts and Hojo ceased his pacing.
"President, my suggestion is obvious. Sephiroth was an incredible asset to this company. We would be foolish to give up on this line of research. There remain promising candidates for the experimental process, we may end up with something greater than Sephiroth. We should hold the remaining Soldier and his murderous companion here, with the civilian girl to keep them in check. They would make excellent specimens."
The president saw at least some logic in what Hojo said, but overall he could not accept it. "I'm afraid I cannot agree with you, professor. Even if you were sucessful in recreating Sephiroth, what would stop the replacement from discovering the truth of his origins all over again? A warrior of Sephiroth's calibre would have little trouble finding this information if he had cause to look. Sooner or later the truth of this incident will be well known to all. Any replacement would simply be warned to look into things by someone with a grudge against the company and we'd be right back here, if not worse. I should think the only reason Sephiroth is not butchering us all right now is the actions of Zack and his companion. They should be rewarded for seeing to our best interests, not brutalised in your lab for your own twisted machinations."
Hojo snarled and stormed off, clearly not used to rejection, his grubby white lab coat bilowing behind him as he slammed the door. President Shinra shook his head and looked upon his staff. "We have caused enough damage for one day, don't you think? I will not allow our saviours and heroes to meet such a fate. They and the girl are to be released without incident. There will be no arguing that point. Scarlett, you seem to have an idea of your own. Care to share it with the rest of us?"
Scarlett nodded slowly and knitted her slender fingers together. "Let's look at this objectively, shall we? What we want to achieve in a perfect world is good public relations. The loss of Sephiroth, the destruction of Nibelhiem, everything would seem to cast us in a bad light. What we require is a way to turn this into something that strengthens us. I see only one way to do that."
A murmur spread through the group until the president raised his hand to silence it. "I seeno way in which this can be achieved, Scarlett. Elaborate."
"I know this might sound crazy at first, mr president, but please, hear me out. As I see things, the only way we can escape this with our lives and reputations intact is to give the public what they demand. The truth. Albeit a limited version, of course. We acknowledge that Sephiroth burned down Nibelhiem but not why, we claim we never got a chance to find out. We offer to rebuild the town and help the survivors, that shows us to be honest and caring, should keep the majority off our backs, including the girl in the medical wing and her friends. We also acknowledge that Sephiroth is dead, there's no denying it anyway, eventually whatever lies we spin would be unravelled. We show that when Sephiroth went insane for whatever reason, we were on the scene to contain him. Our enemies will know that we have people within our ranks stronger than Sephiroth, their fear of us should remain intact."
President Shinra mused on her logic for a moment. It seemed so obvious. It boiled down to little more than putting a good spin on things. With so few survivors from Nibelhiem it was hardly worth rebuilding the town anyway, they could easily be offered homes in Midgar at minimal cost to the company. By keeping Zack and his companion friendly the company retained a valuable asset in the psychological aspects of diplomacy, enough to keep the Wutai remnants at bay at least. And as Zack had already expressed his interest in the greater good by trying to protect his friend, he would no doubt understand the logic behind the company witholding the nature of Sephiroth's breakdown from the public eye.
"The simplest solutions are always the most elusive. I see only one flaw in your logic. Genesis. He and Zack are the only two First Class Soldiers left, and the only people outside of Hojo's science department that know the full details of the Jenova project. While I should think Zack can be convinced to keep it quiet for the greater good of continued stability, Genesis is still rogue. Science department believes his degeneration is reaching critical levels. If he is to make a move, it will be soon. He would not pass up a chance to cripple us by revealing his origins. Once he is dealt with, the plan seems logisticly sound. We should dispatch Zack to finish him off as soon as we can locate him."
The others nodded in approval, with Palmer even chuckling to himself in his usual disturbing manner. Scarlett still seemed deep in thought. "Mr president, with regards to the young man who dealt the final blow, this Cloud Strife, what is to become of him? Perhaps in the interest of good PR we should throw him some sort of bone for his efforts. We keep his killing of Sephiroth a secret, we state that Zack was responsible for reasons Zack himself suggested, and perhaps a promotion of sorts. Killing Sephiroth is no mean feat, perhaps he should be elevated to Soldier, under Zack's tutelage. That way if our enemies should ever discover the truth behind Sephiroth's death, he will still be in a position for them to consider him a threat. And another First Class wouldn't hurt, especially if we're now to eliminate Genesis. Zack can't possibly deal with ever problem on his own. Have Zack elevated to head of Soldier where he can be kept close and restore our forces."
Nobody could raise any reasonable objections. President Shinra nodded his approval and tapped a button on his desk to open the intercom system. "Zack Fair, Cloud Strife, report to my office at once. Dress uniforms, if you have them."
***
