Chapter VIII: Hojo

President Shinra watched from the 69th floor of the Shinra Tower. He acted as a witness to the horror and bloodshed that he had ordered. And he would watch as the Sector 7 plate fell to the ground, crushing the terrorists once and for all. He listened to an opera, to distract him from the horrible noise that would be made when the plate finally crushed the vermin. The opera echoed throughout the entire floor; no amount of decibels was enough to distract him from the voice of a thousand souls being ripped from existence.

Only a few hours ago he'd been arguing with his staff. The idealistic urban planner, Reeve, objected to his solution. Not that Shinra could blame him. It was, afterall, his job to deal with the fall-out. But it seemed to be the only way to deal with the rats. If he couldn't hunt them down, or even lure them out with a slice of cheese then the only solution remaining seemed to be was block their mousehole and let them die slowly and surely.

And so he callously instructed Reeve to take a personal day and ordered Tseng to proceed with the operation. And soon, the plate would collapse and the entire city of Midgar would be in panic. But Shinra would immediatly conduct a search-and-rescue, putting their fears to rest. They would blame the terrorists, of course, and trust Shinra even more. His plan was perfect.

The foundation of the building shook, and Shinra leaned forward. There was a small explosion and the base of the plate began to fall rapidly. He switched on a news channel and saw a reporter calmly dictating the current events. And then he heard the noise. The reporter's calm face slowly turned to one of abject horror. He looked up, slowly and then the feed dissapeared.

Shinra smiled. He had done it. This was the end of the terrorist threat.

Cloud awoke in a pile of rubble. He looked around him and saw the naturally occuring wreckage that was the Sector 6 Slums. How had he arrived here? His mind replayed the events that led up to this moment. Leading Aeris and Tifa through the Train Graveyard. Arriving at the support pillar in time... wait, did he? He remembered there being a battle. He looked around at the Sector 7 gate, and saw the massive wrecked plate lying precariously on the wreckage that had once been Sector 7.

Cloud looked around him, and saw the bodies of his comrades, Barrett and Tifa. He seriously wondered if they were alive, or if Shinra had succeeded in his plan to eradicate all the members of AVALANCHE.

"Tifa!" Cloud shouted. "Tifa, are you all right?"

Tifa moved slowly. Her eyes opening and then shutting instantly. "What happened?"

"The plate... it fell. Sector 7 is completely destroyed," Cloud said.

Tifa rolled over and stumbled to her feet. She looked up at the wreckage and her eyes filled with horror. She sunk right back to her knees, her hands pressed against the earth. "This is just like... no it's worse...Shinra keeps destroying every home I have. Everyone that I care about."

Cloud was in no position to try and console Tifa. There was nothing he could say. Thousands had been slaughtered for no reason other than to satisfy Shinra's need for total dominance. What could he say? Things would be okay? They would make things better? No, there was no point in lying.

Barret slowly stood up, and Cloud could tell now that he had not been unconcious, but rather just lying on the ground, stewing in his own sense of failure and guilt. The behemoth of a man now looked somewhat less intimidating. His eyes were red from holding back the tears, his torso beaten and bruised from the fight. He looked like hell.

"Barret, are you okay?" Cloud asked.

Barret would have, under normal circumstances, shouted confidently and berated Cloud. But now he stood there, soulless. He didn't even acknowledge Cloud. He just lifted his gunarm and began to fire angrily upon the rubble.

"Biggs... Wedge... Jessie..." Barret cursed.

"All three of them were in the pillar," Cloud sighed.

"This is all screwed up! They destroyed an entire village just to get to us! They killed so many people..." Barret slammed his fist against the rubble.

Cloud looked down the road to Sector 6. And then he remembered something important. "Barret."

"What is it?" Barret asked.

"Marlene. Aeris took Marlene to Sector 5," Cloud said. He ran down the ruined highway, with Barret and Tifa tailing close behind.

Aeris's house seemed undisturbed. Barret rushed up the stairs and Cloud could hear the cries of joy coming from the panic-stricken father. Elmyra looked at Cloud expectantly.

"Sorry. The Shinra have her," Cloud said. Elmyra burst out into tears. Cloud could understand her pain, but he had to ask.

"Why is Shinra after Aeris?"

"Aeris is an Ancient. The sole survivor," Elmyra replied, calming down.

"...What did you say? But, aren't you her mother?" Tifa asked.

" Not her real mother. Oh... it must have been 15 years ago...during the war. My husband was sent to the front. Some far away

place called Wutai. One day, I went to the station because I got a letter saying he was coming home on leave. My husband never came back. I wonder if something happened to him? No, I'm sure his leave was just canceled. I went to the station everyday. Then, one day I saw a woman. She was hurt badly and carrying in her arms a little girl. You used to seethis sort of thing a lot during the war. Her last words were, 'Please take Aeris somewhere safe.' My husband never came back. I had no child.I was probably lonely. So I decided to take her home with me. Aeris andI became close very quickly. That child loved to talk. She used to talk

to me about everything. She told me she escaped from some kind of research laboratory somewhere. And that her mother had already returned to the planet, so she wasn't lonely... and many other things."

"Returned... to the planet?" Cloud asked.

" I didn't know what she meant. I asked if she meant a star in the sky, but she said it was this planet... She was a mysterious child

in many ways," Elmyra explained. "One day, Aeris told me not to cry. She just blurted that out all of a sudden. When I asked her if something happened she said 'Someone dear to you has just died. His spirit was coming to see you, but he already returned to the planet.' At that time I didn't believe her. But... Several days later, we received a notice saying my husband died. And that's how it was. A lot had happened, but we were happy. Until one day the Turks came. That man, Tseng, told Aeris that she was an Ancient. She denied it... but she must have known. Of course I heard it. That she was an 'Ancient'. But she denied it so fervently that I never brought it up."

"So, the Shinra want to use Aeris' power for their own good?" Tifa asked.

"It's said that... the Ancients will lead us to a Promised Land. I guess the Shinra want to exploit that," Elmyra sighed.

"Yo!" Barret shouted, barreling down the stairs. "If you're gonna take on the Shinra take me with you Spikey. I owe that girl everything for saving my Marlene."

"That girl is your daughter?" Elmyra asked. She walked up to Barret and slapped him. "How could you leave a girl like that all alone to go off fighting?!"

Barret hung his head in shame. "I know it ain't right. And I may never be able to make it up to her. But she's the reason I'm fighting. I'm fighting so that Marlene can have a better future."

Elmyra scoffed, but then turned her head and nodded. "I understand. I'll look after her."

"Thank you," Barret said. "So, we raiding the Shinra or what?"

"The Shinra operate out of the Shinra Tower in the center of Midgar. Surely you already knew that," Cloud explained.

Barret nodded. "But how we gonna get up there. The trains are in a state of confusion on account of the big-ass plate that fell on the station."

"We'll just have to climb up," Cloud explained. "It's time to pay Shinra back for what they've done."

"Knock knock motherfuckers!" Barret shouted as his gunarm rang through the crowded first floor of the Shinra building.

The first three floors of the Shinra building were connected by a long stairwell that tiered back like a ziggarut. Barret kept his fire aimed at the cieling, as the majority of people here were citizens and not soldiers. Tifa had wanted them to sneak in using the service stairwell, and Barret was fond of bursting in and tearing down the house. Cloud had thought of the brilliant middle ground that they chose. Tifa and Cloud would use the service stairwell and Barret would be the decoy. They would break flank and meet on the 60th Floor if possible.

Two whole squads of Shinra soldiers rushed up to meet Barret, but before they even had a chance to arm their weapons, they were torn down by his fire. Barret rushed up the stairwell to the elevators, but was caught on the second floor by another group of soldiers. Barret shot at two, who fell over the stairwell onto the lobby, landing on a horrified secretary. The third man slashed at Barret's neck with his sword, but missed by inches leaving a deep incision under his ear. Barret picked him up and threw him through the plate glass barrier onto the ground below.

He tore open an elevator door on the third floor and found two SIA attendents carrying clipboards. They were both young girls, and Barret was not about to harm civilians.

"Ladies," Barret said, bowing slightly and pointing his gunarm out the door. The two ran out and hid in a nearby convenience store, which the tower had aplenty for the workers who practically lived in the tower. Barret got on the elevator and pressed the button for floor 60. He'd be lucky if he actually got there on the first try, though.

Cloud and Tifa rushed up the service stairwell. Breaking the lock on the door, they found, was the easy part. Running up 60 flights of stairs, however, took a toll on the body. Even Cloud, with his military physique, was having difficulty keeping his vigor up.

"How many more flights are there?" Tifa asked.

"About 15. We're almost there," Cloud said, panting. "Want me to carry you?"

"Hah," Tifa laughed. "You'd like that wouldn't you?"

"Don't get me wrong. We have to get up there in time to help Aeris. With Barret's distraction, who knows what they might do," Cloud explained.

Tifa shot back Cloud a look as though she'd just been slapped in the face. "Whatever. I just got my second wind anyway."

She tore up the stairs and Cloud had trouble keeping up.

The 60th Floor was practically empty at this point. Several soldiers had run either to the lower floors in an attempt to cut off Barret, or to the higher floors to protect the President. It was a good, secure meeting point for the three.

"Barret, are you okay?" Tifa asked as she noticed the gash in Barret's ear.

"I'm fine. Some SOLDIER punk tried to give me a haircut," Barret grinned. "Guess with his mask on he couldn't see that I don't have any."

"Cut the chatter guys. We need to keep an eye out for soldiers," Cloud ordered.

Barret scoffed. "An' who the hell made you leader?"

"Oh, I see. So are you planning to rush into this building blindly?" Cloud asked.

Barret was a good 4 inches taller than Cloud, but at that moment he felt about 3 feet tall. "Fine, Mr. Ex-SOLDIER. Why don't you tell us where they're keeping Aeris?"

"Hmm. If I recall correctly, the 67th Floor is a Prison Ward and the Turk's Office and right above there is Hojo's Lab. There's also a specimen elevator that connects the floors," Cloud explained.

"Whoa, whoa, back up. Who's this Hojo?" Barret asked.

"I've never actually met the man, but he's Shinra's leading scientist. He's the one responsible for uncovering..." Cloud stopped speaking. His mind raced with images from his past.

"Cloud. Are you okay?" Tifa asked.

"It's nothing. Point is, we need to get to the 67th Floor right now," Cloud explained.

"No problem. I'll take point and if any soldiers see me, I'll run in the opposite direction," Barret chukled.

Fortunately, it didn't come to that and the group made it up to the 66th Floor with little opposition. The 66th Floor was filled with office's and a massive conference room. Barret took an experimental step out the door and then rushed back into the stairwell.

"What's up?" Cloud whispered.

"Every bigwig in town is headin' into that big conference room," Barret explained. "Maybe we oughta take a listen?"

"It's not safe to just wait outside the door," Cloud said. "But if we could get into the vents somehow..."

"What about the bathroom?" Tifa asked.

"Well, you don't have to ask, just wash your hands before you come back," Cloud chuckled.

"No," Tifa moaned. "I meant I bet there are vents in the bathroom for air circulation."

Sure enough, the party found that the nearby bathrooms had vents, but the trick was getting in them. They were, as you would expect, very narrow, but Cloud and Tifa were able to squeeze through with Barret's help.

"Um," Barret laughed. "I don't think I'll be getting in there."

"Just stay on point and we'll let you know what's going on," Tifa said.

The conference room was laid in maroon carpeting, which clashed with the blue throughout the rest of the tower. When the doors were shut, it gave the impression of being trapped in a small box, which conveniently had a table set in the center. Other than that and the portrait of President Shinra behind his seat at the end of the table, this room was empty.

This meeting featured every member of the Shinra Management staff. Sitting on the left side of Shinra was a beautiful blonde woman named Scarlet. She was the head of Shinra Weapons Manufacturing, and the kind of woman whose bad side you avoided at all costs.

Next to her was the large Heidigger. He was the head of the Shinra Military, under Shinra of course, and a four-star general who was renowed for his success in the Wutai Campaign. Across the table from him, deliberately skipping a seat from Shinra's flank, was Reeve. Reeve was the head of Urban Development, and while every other person at this table only had the bare essentials in information, this man seemed buried in notes.

Sitting next to Heidigger was Palmer, a man who was now little more than a figurehead in the office. He was charged with Shinra Aeronautical Research, and in specific the failed space exploration program. Now that space was out of the minds of Shinra, Palmer spent his days working in Mako Research and Development, which was as close to grunt work as a member of the Shinra Heirarchy could get. He had ragged white hair and a pair of half-moon spectacles that seemed too small for him, as though he couldn't afford a new pair.

Finally at the end of the table, leaning on the table was a man in a white lab coat. He had thick black hair in a ponytail and a pair of burgundy bifocles. This was Dr. Hojo, Shinra's leading scientist and author of several of the thesis' that had gotten Shinra where it is today. Though he was somewhat overshadowed by his mentor, the late Dr. Gast, there was no question that he remained one of their best.

"Alright then, now that we've assembled let's get this meeting underway," Shinra said. "Reeve, I'd like to hear from you first."

This was actually a lie. Shinra didn't want to hear from him at all, but he knew that if he didn't let Reeve have an opening tirade, he'd ruin the rest of the meeting. Reeve stood up and opened his folder.

"As far as initial reports can tell, there were a total of 914 casualties and about 1200 injuries to citizens on the Plate of Sector 7. Our excavation crew has not gotten to work yet, but we are for the time being assuming a pessimistic view that all 1398 citizens of Sector 7 were killed from the collision," Reeve explained.

"Minus 1," Scarlet pointed out. "That man, Barret, is running around somewhere in this tower even as we speak."

"I've sent the Turks and SOLDIER to deal with him. He won't get far," Heidigger replied.

"Right. Well this is a rough estimate, I had to scratch together the numbers about an hour ago, but by my guess it will cost us about 17.5 million gil to repair Sector 7," Reeve explained.

And this was where Shinra had to step in, and bring his idealistic colleague back down to earth.

"We're not rebuilding Sector 7," Shinra said. "We're removing all search and rescue teams within 72 hours."

"But, why?" Reeve asked.

"We are re-commencing the Neo-Midgar plan," Shinra explained. "Hojo, how is the specimen?"

Hojo's eyes lit up behind his glasses. "Well, compared to her mother, she is an inferior specimen. Right now the difference is 11. By my estimation, successful extraction of her abilities will take far too long."

"What about the Promised Land?" Shinra asked.

"I've asked, but she's continued to deny everything. I will continue to interrogate her and do what I can to manipulate her abilities, but I would like your permission to set up a failsafe," Hojo asked.

"Do whatever it takes," was Shinra's automatic reply.

"Excellent," Hojo smiled. "We are within the grasp of the Promised Land."

"What do you think he means by that?" Tifa asked, after jumping out of the vent.

"The Promised Land? That's a little vague," Cloud said. "But it sounds familiar. I think Aeris's mother mentioned it."

"Did you find out where Aeris is?" Barret asked.

Cloud nodded. "She's being held in the detention ward on the 67th floor, like I thought. We'd better hurry. Hojo has some sick experiment in mind for her."

"Awright. Let's get upstairs before that nut-job does. We should take the elevator," Barret said.

They snuck down the corridors, narrowly avoiding a man who looked as though he'd had too much coffee, and pressed the elevator button. Cloud was amazed at how little security there was around this area. The elevator opened slowly and Barret ducked back. Cloud and Tifa jumped behind him, around a corner. Out of the elevator walked three men in black suits. Cloud recognized the lead man as Tseng, and the man behind him was Reno. The third was a man with dark skin and rigid features.

"Who's that other guy?" Barret asked.

"Don't know. He must be another Turk," Cloud observed.

Cloud waited for the men to round the corner and signaled the other two. They snuck on the elevator just as the doors closed.

"Okay, somebody explain to me why we haven't found this man yet," Tseng cursed.

Tseng was not just an ordinary Turk. He was, afterall, the Director of the Turks and security breaches tended to interrupt the flow of his day. Reno was, as usual, the first to offer his advice.

"Yo, it's not that big a deal. What can this guy do? He's already shot up the lower floors, now that our security has doubled he'd be an absolute idiot to try and stick around," Reno said.

"Yo," Tseng mocked. "He was the man from Sector 7. He must be here for the Ancient."

"Sir, might the other two be with him?" Rude suggested.

"I wouldn't put it past them. They were, after all, able to take on an entire batallion of Shinra soldiers. I want you to make sure that he doesn't get to the Detention Ward," Tseng ordered.

"I'll get a squad from SOLDIER right up there," Reno said.

"And I'll personally guard it," Rude added.

"Good," Tseng nodded.

Cloud, Barret and Tifa arrived on the 67th floor. This floor was different from the rest. Instead of carpeting and wallpaper, this floor was steel and concrete in all dimensions. The back area was accessible in only one direction, which was guarded by two members of SOLDIER. Their uniforms were identical to the one that Cloud wore, and they wore thick helmets the concealed their entire face. They carried massive swords, similar to Cloud's.

"Those guys look just like you. Are they SOLDIER First Class?" Tifa asked.

"I doubt it," Cloud said. "First Class SOLDIERs rarely get guard duty." Cloud peered at the insignia on their arm brace. "They're Third Class, basically SOLDIER recruits. I could probably take them both out by myself."

"I think we should try a little reconaissance first," Tifa said, glaring at Barret who was warming up his gun-arm. "You're dressed just like them. Grab a helmet and find out if they're keeping Aeris there."

"But where am I supposed to find a helmet lying around?" Cloud asked.

Suddenly a third member of SOLDIER walked around the opposite corner. Tifa froze and Cloud reached for his sword.

"Hey! What are you doing here?!" He shouted.

Barret grabbed him by his uniform collar and smashed his head in a single, swift motion. He dragged the SOLDIER into a nearby room, and Tifa and Cloud ducked in with him.

"Not exactly lying around, but this should work," Barret said as he tossed Cloud the SOLDIER's helmet. "And what do you know. It looks like this SOLDIER boy was top brass."

Cloud took the insignia from the soldier. He was actually onlya 2nd Class SOLDIER, but that was all the leverage that Cloud needed.

"Okay. I'll go deal with the guys who will no doubt be running to aid their comrade. You stay here and deal with anybody who gets nosy," Cloud ordered.

Cloud left the room and shut the door behind him. Sure enough down the hallway to his left came the two soldiers who were guarding the prison wing. They stopped in front of him and saluted, and he returned the salute.

"You two mind telling me what the hell you're doing here?" Cloud demanded.

"Sir, we heard somebody shout," replied the first soldier.

"That was me. I had to chase off two other rookies who were sent here without authority," Cloud explained. "Now do you mind explaining to me why you abandoned your post?"

"Sir, I-" the other began.

"There is a madman in here with a gun who's probably trying to break out one of his buddies and you're just gonna let him slip by you with so easy a distraction, what the hell?" Cloud asked. "If he'd thrown a god damned cookie down here you two would smack into each other trying to get it."

"Sir, we'll get back to our posts at once," the first soldier replied.

"Wait a minute soldier. I need to know the status of the Ancient," Cloud ordered.

"Sir, we cannot comply with that request. You are not authorized," the second soldier shook his head.

"I am carrying down orders from Heidigger himself. He's in a meeting downstairs with Hojo and they need to know the status of the Ancient," Cloud ordered.

"I understand that sir, but I cannot comply with that request," the second soldier stood firm.

Cloud sighed. "Whatever then. Go on back to your post."

The soldiers turned to head back to their post and Cloud smashed the blunt of his blade against the first one's helmet. The second one was fast enough to duck and drew his sword.

"I knew something was fishy!" He shouted.

"Too bad you didn't act on it. The first rule of SOLDIER is go with your instinct," Cloud said.

"And how would you know?" The soldier asked.

Cloud removed his helmet. "I used to be a First Class." The soldier's knees seemed to buckle under him at the glow of Cloud's eyes. "Think you can take me on?"

"I won't lose to you!" He cursed.

"Listen, I'm just here to check on a friend. Where's Aeris?" Cloud ordered.

The second soldier began to laugh. "Sorry, sir. I cannot comply."

Cloud raised his sword, and felt a thin blade slash him in the back. Cloud groaned in pain and leaned back against the wall, which of course sent another stab of pain at his wound. Behind him had appeared two other members of SOLDIER, both Third Class.

"How does it feel, Ex-SOLDIER?" The third one mocked.

"Brings back… the good old days," Cloud mocked.

Cloud lunged at the fourth soldier and ran his blade through him. He then turned and blocked the third soldier's blade with his and grabbed him by the helmet. He smashed his hilt on the soldiers head, then let his blade fall behind him to block the second soldier's sword. With one efficient spin he cut down the final assailant.

"Amateurs," Cloud sighed.

The detention area was quiet, which was a poor sign to begin with. The doors all locked and were full concrete cells without even viewing portals. Even if he shouted his lungs hoarse he would never be heard to somebody inside the cell, which was probably a means of preventing prisoners from planning an escape.

He heard footsteps behind him. He spun around and drew his sword to Barret, who was grinning. "Man, you really are a tough guy. You took down all the guards in this place."

"Leaving five men, even members of SOLDIER, to guard this one floor was stupid. And their leader was incompetent. Aeris should be here, but I don't know where," Cloud said.

"No, that's the thing, um. We think we found her, but you're not gonna like it," Barret said.

"What's up?" Cloud asked.

"Well, after you left, we saw Hojo walk by into the lab area of this floor. He started talking about using 'the specimen' in the floor upstairs. Tifa thought that might be Aeris. She's covering the point and told me to come get you," Barret explained.

"And why didn't you stay?" Cloud asked.

"Well… she's hiding in one of those damned vents again," Barret sighed.

Cloud smiled and ran down the hall towards Tifa's position.