Saya had never known that the ringing sound on the other end of the phone as you called someone could be so stressful. Neither the tone nor the rhythm sounded any different than the phones she was used to, yet it seemed much more ominous. Then again, perhaps that was because she was calling one of the only remaining high-ranking people whom she hadn't spoken to as if he were just another friend with a car. The ringing finally ceased, and on the other end she heard someone answer; his voice sounded refined and thoughtful, but at the same time seemed to hold a sternness in it which echoed parts of both Angeal's and Sephiroth's personalities.
"Hello?" The voice spoke, not sounding as inquisitive as demanding; his tone was akin to that underlying frustration you feel when you answer the phone of someone whom you just know is going to ask you for money.
"Excuse me, is this Genesis Rhapsodos?"
"It is, may I ask who is calling?" He responded, seeming slightly less flustered. Perhaps it had something to do with how nervous she sounded.
"My name is Saya Otonashi; I was recently admitted into SOLDIER and a man named Angel Hewley told me I should call you when I had finished my time in the Shinra building."
"He did, did he?" The man responded, sounding both frustrated and amused at the same time.
"Yes. In fact he is the one that put yours, his, and the other first-class SOLDIER members' cell phone numbers in my phone's address book."
"I see. That sounds like him. I'd heard that we had a promising new recruit, but I hadn't suspected it would be a woman- young lady, please excuse me. I mean no offense."
"Oh, none taken, sir. In fact almost everyone I've met has said one thing or another about how I am the first female member of SOLDIER."
"No one has given you any trouble, I hope?"
"I haven't had any issues with anyone, it just makes me feel a little anxious, knowing that I stick out like a sore thumb."
On the other end of the phone it sounded as if Genesis was considering a chuckle, but he seemed to decide against it.
"Don't worry, it was like that for us as well; Angeal, Sephiroth, and I. Though Angeal likely would not admit it, and Sephiroth would probably just give one the cold shoulder."
She smiled a bit, thinking how that would probably fit their personalities.
"I can get to the Shinra building in around half an hour. If you will wait for a while, I will take you to the dormitory building where you will be staying and perhaps show you where some important places are in Midgar."
"I would really appreciate that, sir."
"Don't worry about it. It is the duty of SOLDIER first-class members to both be a symbol for other SOLDIER operatives, as well as support them when they need assistance."
"Thank you again."
He seemed to think about chuckling again, but once again restrained himself.
"I will see you soon, miss Otonashi."
Saya said goodbye, and then the phone call ended. As she flipped it closed and put it into a pants pocket the girl decided that he seemed like a nice person. He was the only 1st class SOLDIER member she'd spoken to so far who she did not get past the "honorifics" stage with, but that was fine, as she hadn't expected to so much as meet any of the high-ranking operatives on her first day.
She took her tray to where all of the other used ones were and then walked towards the elevator. Saya opened it and stepped inside, hovering a finger in front of "Lobby". However, she hesitated and gazed at the panel for a few moments before she decided to go back up to the SOLDIER floor.
"I don't know what I would do with all that free time if I were to just go and stand out in the lobby." She thought, hoping she would be able to get access to the training room without a reservation of some kind. Even if not she could at least find out the rules and regulations for its use.
The elevator arrived at the right floor and she stepped out if it, heading towards the training room. She passed some other third-class SOLDIER members and exchanged greetings with them before entering the training room and asking the people within if there was any chance that she could use it.
"Sure." One of them said. "You can choose the kind of mission, environment, difficulty, enemies, and more details before entering the training chamber."
"Well, I've never really used it before." She admitted, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Is there some manner of standard program that I could try?" Saya asked him.
He seemed to think for a moment before checking some information on a computer.
"You're a new third class, right? We have some introductory programs that you could try out to see what level you're at. We can go from there."
Saya nodded and agreed before being directed to the training room. Apparently there wasn't some kind of special helmet or anything that she had to wear in order to be immersed in the environment, which was impressive to say the least.
"Don't worry about doing damage to the room." The man told her. "It's made of durable materials meant to withstand continued use by SOLDIER operatives."
She acknowledged the advice and then the floor began to change, expanding to the walls and then the ceiling. Before she knew it, the entire room was more or less a flat gray, with a single person standing several yards away from her. He looked like a typical thug, with dirty, ragged clothing and a knife. She assumed that she couldn't be hurt since he was only a simulation, but considering how advanced the room's technology was it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to assume it could cause her pain. Without warning, he charged her with the knife, requiring quick reflexes even considering the distance between them. Her body instinctively shifted to the posture in which she would usually draw her sword, but Saya quickly realized that she no longer wielded a katana. Her failure to realize that beforehand almost resulted in her getting stabbed by the thug's knife, but a roll to the side spared her that consequence. Her shoulder armor absorbed most of the impact as she drew up from the floor and pulled the sword from her back to hold in front of her as the man reared around to attack once more.
"This man… even though he's just an illusion, he's still human…" She thought as the attacker charged once again. Her hands twisted, as did the sword, and she struck the knife from his hand as well as dealt a blow to his forehead in the same movement with the blunt side of the blade. He fell back with a loud groan as the knife twirled through the air. Neither got the chance to land on the floor, however, as they disappeared into code, leaving her alone in the room.
From unseen speakers in the ceiling the man she'd talked with congratulated her and asked if she wanted to try another simulation. "Yes, please." She responded. "Would it be alright if I fought against a simulation of a SOLDIER member?" She asked him. "Sure, though do you want to try something that hard already?" Saya nodded. Within moments a new enemy appeared in front of her who looked like many of the SOLDIER 3rd classes. He quickly drew the sword from his back and lunged in her direction, forcing her to react instantly. Saya drew herself off-line from him and swung her sword up towards his stomach. However, his entire body flipped up into the air and he avoided her attack as the two drew past each other.
"He's certainly more adept than the other enemy was." She thought as her body turned around and came to bare. It took him almost half a second longer to turn around than she did, and Saya capitalized on it by rushing at him this time and attacking before he could get his balance. He managed to bring his own sword down in time and the two blades struck each other. Saya let his sword slide down her own before the flat of her blade struck his calf, knocking him to a knee before a blow to his helmet floored him. She placed the sword's blade near his neck, and she had won. It hadn't strained her too much, but if this was only a third class SOLDIER she could only imagine how much ability people like Sephiroth possessed. And supposedly the difference between a SOLDIER 1st class and 2nd was far from proportional in regards to 2nd class to 3rd class.
"Impressive." She heard someone say as the room seemed to return to normal and turned to see a man in a red leather coat standing in the doorway. On his shoulders was black leather armor and he wore a similar emblem on his torso as Angeal, with the same black shirt beneath it. However, his warm red hair and fairer appearance seemed reminiscent more of Sephiroth. His sword was perhaps what distinguished him the most; it was an elaborate rapier with a red blade and exaggerated guard. She immediately recognized the man's voice as that of Genesis Rhapsodos. Apparently all of the 1st class SOLDIER operatives were distinguished by their swords, if not their appearances.
"Your abilities are easily second-class, perhaps even first." He told her, entering the room.
"Why, thank you, sir." She spoke, drawing her sword towards her back.
"Might you humor me?" He requested while bringing his sword up in front of him. It honestly surprised her that he wanted to spar with her within the first few moments of meeting him.
"I- I don't know if we should."
"It is, of course, your choice whether or not to do so. Though I would appreciate the chance to experience your skills myself."
Saya was unsure of whether or not she should. If she overpowered him he might prove to be her first enemy within SOLDIER. Even if she didn't, he would learn her combat style which would only hurt her if she had to fight him for real one day. Then again, he had agreed to take her to the apartment building. And the offer to practice with her was probably a gesture of friendship or at least of kindness.
"Sure… if you'd like to." She agreed, keeping her sword out as well.
"Splendid." He spoke before his body seemed to slide through space, the tip of his rapier heading straight between her eyes. It was only an instinctive twitch to draw the blade up and strike it away that allowed her to keep from getting it thrust into her skull.
"Is he honestly trying to kill me?" She wondered before he drew back and thrust the rapier forth again. Saya drew to the side to avoid his attack, but before she knew it the blade was heading towards her again, and she had to back off. Genesis followed after her, a salvo of thrusts attacking her every time she moved out of the way.
"He keeps me on-guard constantly, waiting for me to make a mistake. The only way I can fight that…" Her sword aimed straight at the ceiling and she waited longer before striking his sword away, until it had almost touched her skin. The moment she felt the tip of the blade her own sword struck the rapier away and she performed her own attack, forcing him to dodge. Genesis pulled himself far to the side and struck her blade away before his flurry of attacks began again. She tried the same tactic once more, but this time when he attacked Genesis entangled the guards of their swords and threw them both up into the air. Saya's surprised gaze followed the weapons for a moment before they came back down to Genesis, and a hand radiating with energy in front of her face. She felt a bead of sweat roll down from her forehead, wondering if he would actually go through with it, but her answer came to her as the light disappeared and he caught both his rapier and her own sword in his hands.
"Your skills are quite impressive. I wasn't even able to best you with swordsmanship alone." He praised her, handing Saya's sword back to her. "Given materia, and some practice, I might be on the other end of the battle some day." He finished.
"Th- thank you, sir." She spoke in recognition. Honestly, however, she was just shocked that he had managed to defeat her, and in such a short time as well.
"No… I shouldn't be surprised; his abilities are far beyond those of humans and his attacks are different than a-"
"You are familiar with fencing?" He spoke. However, it reminded her instantly of the typical 1st class characteristic of making questions sound like statements.
"Yes, I used to fence a lot, once upon a time."
"Why did you stop?" He inquired.
"I-" She gazed into his eyes, wondering if he was trying to find out anything more than just her hobbies. "I went through a rough time and I guess I sort of fell out of it."
"Mm. I see. Well you'll have plenty of opportunities to hone your skills in SOLDIER. And if you were able to give a first class a hard time I'm sure you will be able to deal with any tasks a third class would be assigned to complete."
"I'm honored that you think so, sir."
"Tell me, you've fought in battles before. Real ones… haven't you?"
Saya felt herself getting on-guard. He was asking her more personal questions than the other. No… maybe it was just the way that he asked that made her feel that way. He might have just had a different approach to conversations which she was unfamiliar with. It didn't change the fact, though, that it brought up a topic which was unpleasant for her. She tried to hide it as best she could as she responded.
"Yes, unfortunately. Though I'm not used to fighting against people as experienced and talented as yourself." Saya spoke, trying to end the conversation on a note of praise.
"I'm flattered. Even still, you did quite well. Hopefully I will be able to see your abilities in action some day in a more… cooperative situation."
She nodded.
"I look forward to it."
"Well, now that I am done interrogating you, shall we go?" He offered, sliding the rapier into its sheath beneath his coat. Saya nodded and placed her sword on her back as they left the training room.
"I'm sorry I wasn't downstairs. I didn't know so much time had passed since we talked on the phone."
"It's fine. I got here early and figured you were getting acquainted with the building so I decided to come find you. I apologize if my interruption stunted your training."
"Oh no, not at all. I was just trying to pass the time until you arrived."
They passed several members of SOLDIER on their way to the elevators but Genesis didn't seem to pay very much attention to them. It seemed that of the three he was the 1st class who seemed to most think of himself as superior to the other members of SOLDIER. She didn't know if she would quite call him arrogant because of that, however. After all he was certainly stronger, or at least stronger than her. It was strange, then, that he didn't have the same attitude towards her.
Saya and Genesis took their separate elevators down to the lobby, where they met once again and then walked out to his car. It was more blocky than the cars they had in the rest of the world, but even still it seemed to be very expensive and stylish. He encouraged her to get inside as he did so himself. She watched to see what he was going to do with his weapon, but Genesis didn't seemed to pay much attention to it as he got in. Apparently they just let their weapons stay where they were or carried them along. Saya didn't want to make waves so even though she had no sheath for it, she took her sword from her back and kept it with her in the front. Once they were settled he began to drive. The buildings about them seemed to be very industrial in appearance, with not a whole lot of room left for aesthetics. As they drove and she saw more and more buildings which looked alike she came to admire the impressive stature and construction of the Shinra building even more so than she had before. The two rode in relative silence, but not an uncomfortable one, until he brought up a new subject far removed from the previous ones.
"Have you ever heard of a poem called Loveless?"
She glanced over at him and shook her head.
"I can't say that I have."
He smiled.
"I thought not. It's completely understandable; Loveless was written in our area of the world, and we have not even begun to share our literature with the rest of the planet."
They made a turn, adding a sort of real-life pause between his paragraphs.
"Loveless is a poem written by an unknown person telling the story of three friends who go out into the world to obtain the Gift of the Goddess. It has been made into a successful play and there is even a street here in Midgar which is named after it."
"That's interesting. Are you a fan of Loveless?" She asked him. Saya heard a soft chuckle in his throat.
"Yes, you could say that. Yet, for all of its success, the entire poem has never been discovered; its last act has remained unfound."
"Really? That's strange that it could be so popular and still not be finished."
"The poem is finished. That much I am sure of. However, for one reason or another no one has ever found the missing page. Still, many theorize as to what the final act is."
"You as well?"
"Yes, myself included. Unfortunately, our interpretations of the story, and our feelings towards it, affect our outlook on it. So it is unlikely that anyone will ever discover the true ending of Loveless."
"I see."
"You may do very well not to show everyone your abilities within too short a time." He advised her. It caught her off-guard since he had switched topics so suddenly.
"Why is that?"
"Because if you show others your true capabilities while you yet remain unknown to them, they may just believe that you are the goddess." He said with a smile, causing Saya to blush and nervously assure him that she wasn't as Genesis laughed and they drove off further into the city.