Yes, this fic is revived! The writing bug bit hard and I've got enough creativity - I think - swirling around for at least two more chapters, and coincidentally these are the three chapters where stuff FINALLY happens and the proper plotlines get moving. Come one come all reviewers and let me know you're as excited about the revival as I am, and enjoy the story anew!

Mother's Legacy

Chapter 4

"Hero…" Aerith thought bitterly. The word had always left a sour taste in her mouth. Angeal spouted it like some profound philosophy, the news tossed it around all the time about Sephiroth. SOLDIERs from Third to First talked of wanting to become a hero like the three famous Firsts that had won Wutai. Aerith never cared about the idea, and as such she saw it as the nonsense it was. None of them knew what a hero truly was. Shinra began the Wutai war to expand their power and grip on the planet, and there was no counting how many died on both sides to fulfill their greed. And yet the veterans of the war were dubbed heroes when they came home, and Aerith heard some of them brag about how many Wutai soldiers they had killed. There were no heroes in Shinra. Only murderers and the people who ordered them about.

The intercom on her wall buzzed, and Aerith turned away from her window, raindrops falling down the glass behind the thick iron bars.

"Aerith!" a nasal voice snapped. "It's time for the monthly check. I want you here within two minutes. Get moving, now." Aerith suppressed a shudder.

"Yes, professor," she called back. The intercom shut up, and Aerith approached her door. The red light overheard flashed to green as it slid open, and she walked briskly to the elevators. The last time she had deliberately been late to delay the check, she'd suddenly be refused access to the training rooms of SOLDIER for two days. Now she knew better. She swiped her security card on the elevator, stepped inside, and pressed the button for the 68th floor.

Several seconds later, the elevator doors slid open on the headquarters of the Shinra Science Department.

"Gown is there," Hojo said, pointing to a folded up light blue medical gown on a table. He was busy reading off a paper and looking between it and a computer screen. Aerith didn't know or care what he was doing, and given the choice she'd prefer to keep it that way.

"Yes, professor," she droned. She hated coming up here. Every month, usually in the middle, her intercom would crackled to life and Hojo would summon her. Talking back to him, refusing, trying to make it difficult for him, just ended up costing her. The tests themselves were invasive and uncomfortable, but it was how forcibly she had to submit to them that really drove Aerith to the level of hatred she now held for Hojo and this lab of his.

"I received a request on your behalf," Hojo continued, not turning to her as Aerith picked up the gown. She only noticed the light blue towel underneath it after she had picked it up. "Use the towel to keep your head dry, and consider yourself grateful someone thought enough of your complaints after you left last time to do something about it."

"Yes, professor." Another listing on the debt she owed. Aerith would have to have a stern talk with someone about his dealings for her behind her back, and without her consent. If she had truly been bothered by something enough to want it done differently, she would have handled it herself. Aerith debated on taking the towel, but decided to swallow her pride. She walked to the medical shower closed off from the lab by another door and stepped inside, setting the gown and towel on the table inside.

Waiting for the door to close firmly, she stripped off her uniform and boots, the steel floor cold on her bare feet, and set them on the table next to the gown. She then curled her ponytail around her head before wrapping the towel around her hair. Normally she unbraided the tail and just let her hair get washed with the rest of her body, but that then meant having to take a normal shower back at her room so she could dry it properly, and then having to track down the nice female scientist who braided it for her. Aerith wore it like that to keep her hair from blocking her view and distracting her in battle, but she didn't know how to do the braids herself. She had mentioned to Genesis last month when he watched her exit the simulator that she had mistimed an enemy blow because her free-flowing hair blocked that angle of sight. Genesis obviously had passed it on to Sephiroth, or talked to Hojo himself.

Sliding open the glass door to the shower, Aerith stepped in, slid the door shut, and pressed the button on the wall, then held her arms out to the side, used to the routine. With the sound of a buzzer, nozzles slid out from the walls and ceiling and sprayed her with lukewarm warm. She counted off ten seconds, then on cue the nozzles retracted and warm air blasted from vents. Another ten seconds, and they subsided. Dry, Aerith took off the towel and let her ponytail down, left the shower and put on the medical gown. Taking a breath and steeling herself for the inevitable procedures to come, she stepped back into the lab and walked to a steel table tilted up on an angle on a rotator on its base. She turned and leaned back against it, the top of her head slightly emerging over the top, and she waited while Hojo finished whatever he was working on. Fortunately for her desire to get this all over with, he didn't take long.

"Alright then," Hojo mumbled, walking over to her. He set a small steel wire basket on another table and took out a butterfly needle, tapping it twice with his finger. He lifted Aerith's arm by the wrist and slid it into the crook of her elbow. He hooked a blood vial up to the other end, and thick dark red blood began to run down the tube. Hojo set the vial in a holder on the side of the table's edge, and turned to take a small pair of scissors and a plastic container from the basket next. He unscrewed the lid, holding it between his fingers, and looked up at Aerith's head. The scissors snipped a few inches off one of her bangs, and he screwed it into the container. The blood vial full, Hojo disconnected it and hooked up a second.

"Anything to report?" he asked, taking another container, taking off its lid and taking a pair of nail clippers.

"No, professor," Aerith said quietly, automatically lifting her hand. Hojo clipped her forefinger, the clipping falling into the container, and it too was sealed and put aside.

"Your simulator scores have plateaued since last time," Hojo said, unclipping the second vial of blood and extracting the needle from Aerith's arm.

"They don't challenge me anymore. It's not about skill, it's about me predicting the patterns," Aerith replied as he put the needle away.

"Consistent scores in the 90s are a boast not even many Firsts can make. But if you do think so, perhaps you need someone to program new simulations for you," Hojo said, smiling slightly. Aerith didn't miss his meaning.

"That wasn't fair of you, to put him in the program," she said, mustering as much anger in her voice as she dared.

"Life isn't fair, my dear. You of all people should be used to that by now," Hojo snapped back, a cruel smirk on his face. Aerith forced herself not to reply. If she had her way, she would have jumped up and wrapped her hands around Hojo's neck and squeezed until she heard a crack. But unfortunately, Hojo was the one man she interacted with regularly that she was powerless against. Her barbs and quips were always met with disciplinary action, and there was no way she could attack him if she expected to keep living. She knew for some reason Shinra valued her, but not that much.

"You know I can't beat him. You just put him there to mock me," she accused.

"I knew no such thing. There was no mocking, merely experimentation," Hojo replied, organizing the samples he had taken from her on the table. "I'm a scientist, experiments are what I do. I wished to see how you handled him. Which, as a small consolation, was better than I thought you would. Barely."

"I didn't know he was going to be there. I was off my guard, emotional. Not a fair test," Aerith said. It was an excuse, she knew, but she could cling to it. Secretly she was glad, if seeing Sephiroth in the simulations was going to become common now, it was another pattern of programming she could decipher and predict, maybe make a show to someone when she struck down the simulated 'hero'.

"Oh no, the unfair part would have been to tell you. The program has a new algorithm one of my assistants encoded, based on the Five Forms program. It randomizes various parameters including when and where he'll appear from now on and what type of fighting style he'll employ," Hojo gave Aerith a knowing smirk. "Should take care of that pesky 'predictability' problem, hm?"

"Indeed," Aerith nodded, clenching her fist. He had practically read her thoughts and shot her down instantly. Hojo had always enjoyed holding Sephiroth over her head as a taunt. He was stronger than Aerith in every way that counted. Sephiroth knew it, Aerith knew it, and if she forgot for only a second Hojo had a multitude of ways to remind her. Growing up in Sephiroth's long shadow might have been tolerable if not for how Hojo lorded him over her. By the time she had officially joined SOLDIER and not just been a lab experiment kept in a cell, the message had been clear – Aerith had been expected to live up to Sephiroth's level of skill, and failed miserably. She was shuttled off to SOLDIER because Hojo had no further use of her, but Sephiroth had called in a favor to Lazard and gotten her transferred. It was the first debt she owed Sephiroth, her own life. She intended to repay it someday.

"Alright, keep your head still," Hojo said, sitting in a swivel chair and turning to his computer. Aerith let out a breath as the second part of the exam began. The metal clasps on the table snapped shut over her ankles and wrists, and the table tilted up horizontally, then slid back. The dull grey-blue of the lab ceiling panels shifted to white as the table and its occupant entered the machine behind her. It stopped, and a steel band covered in electrodes extended from the far end of the tube-like cavity to cover the top of Aerith's head, the cold metal pressing into her skin. Physical samples, for some reason, weren't enough for Hojo. Now came the psychological and intellectual evaluations.

"Comfy?" Hojo asked snidely, his voice cracking through a smaller speaker inside. Aerith didn't respond. "Good. We'll begin with the basics as always, mathematics."

"Hey, Kunsel," Zack called, running up to his friend as he stepped off the elevator. "Have you seen Genesis today?"

"No. Heard he and Sephiroth were sent on assignment," Kunsel shrugged.

"Both of them? Yeesh, must have been something big."

"Rumors say a Wutai insurgent group is camped out north of Kalm. They're closer than any group noted before. Can't risk them getting closer," Kunsel explained.

"I'll bet," Zack nodded.

"I was heading to the briefing room to check the mission board, wanna check it out? Might be something fun for us," Kunsel offered.

"I wanna stay here to make sure I can talk to Genesis, but yeah I'll come," Zack replied. The two began walking to the briefing room.

"So what is it you need to see him about?" Kunsel asked.

"The other day he went into the simulation room, said he wanted to see how Aerith was doing. She came out just after he left in a really bad mood."

"Zack, man, I get that you're sweet on her, but Aerith is always in a bad mood, little wonder why if Genesis was there," Kunsel laughed. "You know she hates all three of them."

"You just need to get to know her. And anyway this was different, I know she doesn't like them but something wasn't right with her, she wouldn't talk to me and just went back to her room." Zack shook his head. "She's always hiding in there, only ever comes out to train. If I wasn't here to talk her into socializing now and then I don't think anyone would ever see her."

"Rumor goes she stays in there because she's a prisoner. They only let her out for so long each day," Kunsel said, the door to the briefing room sliding open.

"What? Where'd you here that?" Zack asked, confused.

"One of the Turks, guy called Tseng, heard him talking to a guard the other day that he was getting lax watching her room, letting her stay out too often. They didn't know I could hear them, I think it was supposed to be private," Kunsel explained, approaching the holographic screen listing the missions available.

"First I've ever heard of it. Wonder why she never said anything," Zack thought aloud, bothered by the new information. He never saw Aerith talk to anyone at length except him, and it had taken months to get to the point where he felt comfortable referring to her as a friend to her face. He just assumed she liked keeping to herself, but to be kept prisoner in her room?

"There's a lot of odd rumors circulating about her," Kunsel said.

"What?" Zack muttered, moving from confused to irritated. "Like what?"

"Rumors about why she's the only female SOLDIER in existence. Why she's so much more powerful than so many others. Why she never takes on missions or assignments." Kunsel looked over the mission list and crossed his arms. "Nothing here but monster patrols and scouting out suspected insurgent camps. Was hoping for something to get my hands on more Materia."

"Back up," Zack said, stepping up behind him. "How long have these rumors been going on?"

"Months, man, maybe years. Heard them not long after I came around. The brass tries to stamp it out, so we're not supposed to talk about it, but it's inevitable. People hear things, they wonder, they ask questions, like me and the Turk. I'd wager the only reason no one has brought it up to you is maybe they don't want to get you involved or make you angry, you being her only friend here."

"Yeah, I guess…so why tell me now?"

"Because there's something weird going on," Kunsel said. "I've told you before Zack, I know things, I make it a point to find things out. The last month before the end of the Wutai war, we were at a stalemate, couldn't push past the mountains. Then suddenly, we steamroll them, no resistance, Wutai surrenders. We were getting nowhere, then we push into their city and they surrender clean and easy. Now it's been almost a week, and I've checked this board every day," Kunsel gestured to the mission board. "Nothing has come up, not a thing. During the war it was flooded with missions to take out Wutai spies, investigate secret bases and scouting operations, sabotage their supply lines."

"So it's quiet," Zack shrugged.

"Too quiet. Shouldn't there be a bunch of insurgent groups attacking? A lone warrior looking for a suicide mission in revenge? Resistance from Wutai during the occupation?"

"You said that Genesis and Sephiroth were sent to check out an insurgent camp."

"Yeah, but they're the only ones. No one else has gotten anything, everyone is sitting in the lounge or down in the streets. It's not quiet, Zack, its dead. The war ended too fast and too clean. So maybe it didn't. Maybe it's just a break before something else happens."

"What does this have to do with Aerith?" Zack asked.

"Until we broke through the mountains in the last month, recruitment rates for the infantry and SOLDIER were the highest they've ever been, you practically walked into the barracks, got handed your equipment and walked back out to head to a helicopter. But she was still here, all the time. One of their top combatants able to take out a lot of the Firsts, and when everyone else is off fighting the war, she's still here. Why?"

"I don't know. Maybe she declined, I did it all the time to stay here and see what was going on at home," Zack said. Even as he said it though, he didn't believe it, Aerith was always angry she never got to take on missions or assignments. Kunsel was right, why wouldn't Shinra use her when they needed her?

"There's a lot of secrets going around now, more than usual. And there's always been a lot about her," Kunsel said.

"You think Aerith has something to do with why Wutai fell so easy?" Zack asked, skeptical.

"No. Maybe. Who knows? That's the point." Kunsel looked back at the mission board. "I just feel like something as big as the Wutai War is coming, and with Aerith being so mysterious, maybe she could be part of it, if not part of Wutai."

"You are way too into conspiracy theories, man," Zack snorted, shaking his head in amusement. "I know Aerith, and she isn't part of some big secret, trust me. She'd tell me, I know she can be abrasive, but she trusts me."

"That's just another mystery in itself," Kunsel muttered. "Why on earth she let you get under her skin like she has."

"What can I say, I'm just that charming," Zack grinned. Kunsel rolled his eyes within his helmet. "So, uh, where is she anyway?" Zack asked.

"Saw her head towards the elevators earlier when I was on 57, not sure where she'd have gone," Kunsel shrugged.

"Even better," Zack replied, heading to the elevators. "That means she's out of her room."

"Huh?" Kunsel followed him as Zack pushed the elevator button and waited for one to come. "Zack, you can't go in her room."

"Hey, I'm not being a pervert. Just gonna leave something in there for her," Zack said.

"No, I mean they won't let you. Her room is locked at all times by the security team," Kunsel explained.

"There's an intercom, I'll talk to them," Zack assured him, the elevator doors opening. Zack and Kunsel stepped inside and Zack pressed the button for the 57th floor. It only took a few seconds to descend the two floors before the doors opened again.

The 56th, 57th and 58th floors of the tower were reserved for the barracks of SOLDIER, the two floors under that in kind being reserved for the Security Department. The members of SOLDIER enjoyed relatively small but comfortable rooms, two members to a room with bunk beds, a personal shower, desks and lockers. The 56th floor was for the Thirds, the 57th for Seconds. 58th, which was restricted access, was for Firsts.

"Hey Zack, Kunsel," a Second said, lifting a hand in wave as they passed. Zack returned the gesture, thinking he didn't recognize the speaker though. He'd been to Aerith's room before, off the elevator, make a left, right down the far end hall, last door on the left. Even those who didn't know where to find Aerith's room by the designation knew of her door by sight. In addition to an intercom system to security and inside the room itself, it had a keypad lock with a ID card slot, and a security camera on the opposite wall kept watch on it at all times.

"Good luck," Kunsel said as Zack approached the intercom controls and pressed the button to call security.

"What?" a gruff voice replied.

"SOLDIER Second Class Zack Fair, requesting authorization to enter Second Class Aerith's room," Zack said formally.

"Denied," the voice replied.

"I just want to leave something for her," Zack said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small red box and holding it up so the camera behind him would see. A small folded piece of paper was taped to the top.

"I said denied. The only people who are authorized to enter that room don't need me to buzz them," the voice replied.

"Come on man, help a guy out with his girl," Zack pleaded. "I'm just trying to leave her a little present, you know the feeling right?" The intercom took a moment to track back to life.

"Leave it by the door for her, no one'll take it,"

"You'll watch and make sure, right?"

"There's five guys watching 70 floors in here, kid, and you're in a SOLDIER barracks. No one's gonna take your little box and no one's gonna be watching it to see if they do. Leave it or hang onto it and give it to her later."

"Alright, I'll trust you to make sure anyway," Zack said, setting the box on the handle of the door, making sure it rested comfortably. There'd be no way Aerith could miss it there.

"If she gets in trouble for whatever's in that, it'll be your head too," the voice warned.

"Nah, it's cool. Thanks," Zack turned to the camera and flashed a grin.

"Told you," Kunsel said as Zack walked away.

"No sweat, was worth a shot. And he was right, we're SOLDIERs, no one is gonna grab it," Zack shrugged.

"So what was that anyway?" Kunsel asked.

"Just a little something I found while I was out in Sector 6 the other day," Zack replied. "It's her one year anniversary of being promoted to Second tomorrow."

"So why not give it to her tomorrow?" Kunsel asked.

"Because then it wouldn't be a surprise," Zack said.

"I doubt she'd remember anyway."

The two SOLDIERs approached the elevator and stepped inside, the doors sliding shut. A few seconds later, the other elevator doors slid open.

"Degrading bastard and his tests," Aerith thought miserably, walking to her room. Hojo had sent her off with a warning that she'd better start improving her skills against the new randomized virtual Sephiroth, or any hopes she had to make First would go out the window. And Hojo, she had come to learn, didn't make idle threats. Aerith pulled her ID card from her door as she got closer. She needed to take a proper shower now to wash the feeling of slime off her skin. Hojo's touch always left a chill in her arm, even as momentary as it was to gather his samples.

Aerith slotted her ID card into the reader and keyed in her five-digit code. The light above the keypad flashed from red to green and she reached for the handle. Looking down at the unfamiliar bumping, she saw the small red box and picked it up with her other hand, pushing down the handle with the other and stepping inside. The door clicked shut behind her, two more clicks signaling it was locked behind her again, and Aerith sat down at her desk. She plucked the small folded paper taped to the top of the box off and unfolded it.

"…'Congratulations on a full year in Second. Look forward to a present next month to celebrate you making First'," she read. "Zack," she rolled her eyes at the signed name. As if there was any doubt who it could be from. She looked down at the box and snorted. "I've told him before, I don't wear jewelry," she said, folding the note back up and taping it where it had been before. Aerith reached up her hand to slide the small box onto the shelf over her desk where her books war, then stood and began to undress as she stepped towards the shower.

"Well…at least the thought was nice," she thought as she pulled her shirt over her head. She hadn't even paid attention to the specific dates to know that the one year mark was already here, she had thought it was a couple weeks more.

"Why is this damn thing taking so long to process?" Hojo thought aloud as his computer copied files to an external drive. "This thing gets slower every week." He made a mental note to send a request up to President Shinra for funding for new lab equipment. How did they expect him to make any progress when he spent his valuable time waiting for his outdated computers to do something as simple as a file transfer? He sipped his coffee and drummed his fingers on the desk impatiently.

There was a beeping behind him, and Hojo turned. Another computer had finished once of its tasks, four running simultaneously. Hojo slid his chair over and called up the window, pushing up his glasses with his free hand. A graph appeared and Hojo read off the data. His eyes widened slightly and he leaned in closer to read the graph again.

"…no…it can't be," he muttered. He called up the computer's calendar and checked the date . "So it is…" he gasped, his eyes lighting up. He flashed through the other programs, graphs and charts and streams of data still rendering. But, they had completed their tasks enough to confirm what the first said. The computer had finished cataloging and comparing all of the data taken from the last ten simulator trials Aerith had taken and correlated it with the stat of the genetic samples he had taken from her earlier. A mundane task done after every one of her examinations. But these numbers…

"Then it is…finally!" Hojo laughed. "A year late on the girl's part, but it's about time!" He stood and picked up the phone on his desk, pressing the button to dial out a pre-programmed number.

"Lazard."

"Director, Hojo," Hojo said, looking back at the computer screen. "I have new parameters concerning the handling of Sample 01-A."

"She has a name, Professor. I know you use it," Lazard answered dryly. Hojo scowled.

"Don't lecture me you twit, just listen! Under no circumstances, at all, is she to be let out on missions or assignments. Don't even let her outside the barracks floors and the training floors."

"Those are largely our standing orders."

"And the next time she enters the simulator, I want the staff there informed she is not to be allowed to begin the simulation until I am notified. I'll be expecting a live feed to the simulation during her usage of it for the next month, at least, and I want recordings taken and backed up. I don't care what exercises she runs, I want to know about it."

"Something amiss, Professor?"

"If it concerned you, I'd be telling you. Just relay the orders and make sure they follow them to the letter, or it'll be the President you answer to!"

"Of course."

Hojo hung up the phone and sat back down in his chair, reading the graph eagerly. They were just as he had expected. Actually, a bit higher than he had expected. Excellent. Hojo was always surprised by how pleased he could be when his experiments surpassed his predictions. The implants had finally begun to mature, right in time with their host. The ratings of Aerith's physical performance in the simulators had suddenly spiked in the last few times she had been in there. Even against the simulated Sephiroth he had pitted her against. A perfect coincidence of his insight and the date.

"Time for the next phase at last," he smiled. And to think he had written it off as a failure, almost forgotten about it aside from the monthly examinations. His eyes fell back on the calendar and he silently scolded himself for not watching the date more closely, even if it was a disappointment last year he should have been waiting this year just in case he had miscalculated. Tomorrow, the day she had been made Second. The irony of the perfect timing of it all was not lost on him.

"Well, we learn more from our mistakes as our successes," he thought. "Happy sweet sixteen, Aerith. Now show me all this time wasted on you wasn't a waste after all."

"Hey Aerith!" Aerith stepped out of the mission room – she liked looking at the list just to entertain which ones sounded good – and Zack call her. She looked at the direction it came from to see him waving her over towards the seating area of the floor. Angeal was with him. Scowling because she knew there was a lecture in the waiting somewhere, she walked over.

"What?" she muttered.

"Angeal was talking to me about the top Seconds they're looking at for First," Zack said.

"It's not a confirmation of impending promotion, but it does mean the best have been recognized and will be watched closely in the time to come to see if they have what it takes for First," Angeal elaborated.

"And guess who's in that list?" Zack grinned. "Yours truly, thank you very much."

"Work on your discipline and keep focused instead of goofing off so much, and you're a sure thing," Angeal said, smiling slightly.

"Good for you," Aerith replied, meaning it. "Put in a good word for me when you get to the top."

"I might not have to. Your name is there too," Zack said, his grin not fading.

"What?" Aerith said, surprised.

"We're supposed to keep quiet about that," Angeal muttered, annoyed. "It's very touchy as I'm sure you know Aerith. But yes. It's been brought up that you're one of the Seconds who may qualify for First. That's all I know, considering everything else I'm not sure what it really means, but know your name has at least been brought up in a serious capacity."

"Good," Aerith nodded, smiling.

"Told ya she could smile," Zack taunted Angeal. Angeal looked down to reply then an alarm sounded. Across the floor, everyone stopped as red lights began to flash and sirens blared.

"What's going on?" Aerith asked.

"Emergency!" Angeal shouted, any traces of joking gone. "All SOLDIERs to the deployment level now! Do not go to your barracks for equipment, weapons and Materia will be made available on the trains! Non-combat personal, secure yourselves in the simulation and Materia fusion rooms and lockdown the doors until further instructions are given!" The people rushed to obey Angeal's orders.

"What is it?" Zack asked.

"That's the emergency siren, you've never heard it because they almost never use it. So when they do, it's big," Angeal said sternly. "Zack, go. Deployment level. I have to sweep the floors and make sure everyone knows where they belong."

"Gotcha," Zack nodded, running to the elevators.

"Aerith, you too," Angeal ordered. Aerith spun around.

"Me?"

"An emergency like this isn't to be taken lightly, they're going to need a fast, efficient response, and Sephiroth and Genesis are still in Kalm. You're needed," Angeal explained.

"I can't. I don't have authorization for missions or assignments," Aerith reminded.

"This isn't a mission or assignment, is it? I'll vouch for ordering you to go personally if you're questioned, I'm pulling rank as far as you're concerned and I don't see anyone higher than me telling you otherwise. Now go! Deployment level, orders will be given on the train once you've boarded. Follow Zack, he's been down there before."

"Yes sir," Aerith nodded, breaking into a smirk before she turned to run after Zack.

"Finally…" she thought, her heart thudding in her ears. A loophole, a way to slip past Shinra's detection. Whatever emergency it was, she was needed. No Sephiroth or Genesis to steal glory. Sure Angeal would probably get credit for rallying the troops, but he was one man. This was the chance she had been waiting for. Whatever was happening, there would be fighting. And she would make sure she was on the front lines, making sure the people in power knew she was there, knew she was fighting, and saw she was good at it. Saw her full potential in action. Saw that she was a First.

"The opportunity I've been waiting to drop in my lap for a year has shown up," she cheered in her head as she stepped into the emergency elevator to stand beside Zack with three other SOLDIERs. The elevator doors closed and it dropped quickly to the deployment level beneath the tower. The deployment level. Where the subway trains stretched out to the outskirts of Midgar including an airport. Wherever they were going, it was outside the city.

"I hope they all get a good look," she thought, clutching the collapsible staff hanging from her belt. "Because they're going to get a hell of a show."