The reactor slumbered peacefully beneath the feet of the intruders, blissfully unaware of their intentions. As they passed through, they only faced a token resistance of the weak guardbots on patrol. It seemed that Shinra was confident that no one would dare stand up to them, let alone wreak destruction on the scale this group was planning. Not that this arrogance bothered Cloud, though – the faster they could get out of here, the faster he could leave all these people behind.

Cloud kept a few steps behind the others, presumably to watch the rear, but moreso to avoid unnecessary conversation. At least there was one less member, since the round one had stayed behind to secure the escape route. Not that he was alone – Barret strode along beside him, only half his attention on the surroundings. It irritated Cloud immensely, but since – short of starting a fight – there was nothing he could do about it, he simply shut his mouth and kept walking.

They shed the other two members, both staying behind at different points to secure their escape route. Barret, however, seemed to be following him to the end. What surprised him though, was his growing respect for Barret's strength – although he still knew he could defeat the man, a strength that could handle the recoil from a machine gun arm well enough to aim accurately wasn't something to be ignored. Barret did, however, have a lot to say on the matter of the Planet – opinions which he freely aired to Cloud.

"The Planet's full of Mako energy. People here use it every day. It's the lifeblood of the Planet! But Shinra keeps suckin' that blood out with these machines. Just makes me sick thinking about it!" he ranted. "This ain't your first time in a reactor, is it?"

"No," Cloud replied testily. "I did work for Shinra, y'know."

"And you know, little by little, the reactors'll drain out all the life. And that'll be that."

Cloud shrugged, not really caring about the guy's fanaticism with this cause.

"It's not my problem," he said in a tone he hoped was final.

Even then, Barret gave it one last try.

"The Planet's dyin', Cloud!"

"So? The only thing I care about is finishing this job before security and the Roboguards come."

Barret turned away, his shoulders shaking almost imperceptibly. Cloud didn't see what his problem was. He thought he'd done pretty well, considering he hadn't told the guy to shut up even once.

Barret remained uncharacteristically silent the rest of the way to the reactor core. As they reached the thin metal grille which was the sole link to the building's heart, however, a feral look came into his eyes.

"When we blow this place, this ain't gonna be nothin' more than a hunk o' junk," he growled, his face twisting into a grin.

To Cloud, it seemed like a wild animal finally let loose. Not someone he'd work with, given the choice. Curse that Tifa, why had he even listened when she was talking him into this crazy mission? He wasn't quite sure what about it had convinced him to help out with this foolhardy escapade – it was something in the way she spoke so intensely, pleading with him to go, and before his brain knew what was going on his mouth had already agreed. Something beyond what his mind alone could comprehend wouldn't let him refuse her when she asked for help.

"Cloud," Barret instructed, halting his internal reflection, "you set the bomb."

"Shouldn't you do it?" Cloud asked him, keeping the annoyance from his face. "You've got more experience with it than me."

Barret gave him a wary look.

"Jus' do it! I gotta watch to make sure you don't pull nothin'!"

"Fine, be my guest," Cloud replied shortly. As long as it shut the guy up, almost anything would be worth it.

Their footsteps on the grille echoed hollowly around the room, an eerie metallic sound that died slowly in the silence. Cloud ignored it as best he could, pretending not to feel the chill that tightened around his heart with each echo. The pathway was narrow, so they walked single file, Cloud in front. The familiar surroundings burrowed into his mind, digging for memories. They quickly began to spill out, a splash of blood here, a burning corpse there. Yet he couldn't identify when or where, or even how they linked to him, and his instincts roared to the forefront, shielding and pushing back. He was grateful that Barret couldn't see his face – he was sure it must be completely white by now, as he continued to fight the memories. Suddenly, a glimmer of green against the dull grey metal caught his eye, and without thinking, he stooped down to examine it. It was a gently glowing green sphere, warm to the touch as he cupped it in his palm. Materia. It seemed to calm his mind, and take his focus away from the surroundings, so he paused for a moment to compose himself. Barret stopped short just behind him, so he pocketed it and kept moving.

As they approached the core, Cloud could hear the humming of the reactor clearly. It had been in the background for most of the time they were in the facility, but only now, right next to it, could he hear the ebb and the flow of the Mako inside as it was drawn out from the planet. It was a peaceful, almost hypnotizing sound, but to Cloud, it seemed to possess a sinister edge. Barret held out the bomb to him, and kneeling, he carefully placed the bomb against the wall of the core. As he started to set the timer, the noise of the Mako finally clicked into place, and a memory surged past the wall of protection he'd built up. The world around him went momentarily blank, and a tantalizingly familiar voice spoke in an urgent tone.

"Watch out! This isn't just a reactor!"

But before he could identify it, suddenly everything was clear again. The reactor's hum resumed, but now Barret's approaching footsteps jarred its subtle beat. Barret was saying something, but at that moment, he couldn't hear over the echo left in his mind. He shook his head to clear it, and asked with embarrassing confusion, "Huh?"

"I said, what's wrong, Cloud! Hurry it up!" he exclaimed, his suspicions evident in his tone.

"Yeah, sorry," Cloud replied, pushing his questions away and quickly finishing it off.

He set the timer for fifteen minutes, judging it should be enough time to get everyone out, but as he pressed the button to confirm it, a siren began to wail overhead, and the room was bathed in red as the emergency lights came on.

Barret swore, his curses almost drowned out by the cacophony.

""And now we gotta fight our way out!" he continued. "They're gonna be looking for us everywhere, too!"

As if in response to his words, a giant, scorpion-shaped robot trundled up towards the pair, blocking off the connecting walkway. The two men turned to face it, and grateful to have something else to focus on, Cloud let his body shift automatically into a fighting stance, sword in hand. Barret was already firing rounds at it, a continuous rattle of metal on metal. Scared of what he might find waiting for him in his head, he used the memory of his muscles, swinging his sword as he leapt at the scorpion. He aimed for the tail, where he could see a powerful laser powering up. The rattle stopped abruptly as his sword screeched against the metal plating, sliding into the gap and slicing straight through, the force of his charge behind it. As he landed, he heard Barret yell, "Outta the way, foo'!" gun arm aimed in the direction of both him and the scorpion.

Cloud raced back to their line of offense, out of the way of most stray bullets and shrapnel. As he arrived, Barret began firing again, aiming for both the head and back that Cloud had exposed. With a final rattle, the scorpion collapsed.

Barret turned angrily to Cloud.

"Don't ever do that again, ya hear? I almost hit you 'cause you leapt in suddenly like that! Next time tell me first, got it?"

He stormed off down the walkway without waiting for an answer. Cloud stayed silent, holding down his annoyance at being lectured, and followed.