Part 9
Dr. Virginia Wilde was one of the best scientists ShinRa had to offer and had been an ardent admirer of 'Dr. Hojo's' work. However, her near inability to express herself in anything other than scientific terms and her tactlessness had made her a back bencher and thereby escaped Hojo's attention. In less than three minutes into her presentation, she managed to alienate nearly everyone in the room – as far as Cloud was concerned, nearly everyone in the room that mattered. Apart from Reno who was leaning against the door frame, making no attempt to hide his presence, who probably found whole thing amusing. Cloud bet Elena was listening from outside while keeping an eye on things.
Dr. Wilde's presentation started by describing the Remnants, going over the process of how they were considered failures. "In the case of Specimen C," she started, looking at Cloud then stopped puzzled when everyone at the table glared at her, with a 'what-did-I-say' look which said everything.
"For the sake of propriety, he will be referred to as Mr. Strife," Tseng said dryly which did not help the situation.
"Yes," said Dr. Wilde in a manner which suggested she was not really sure why, "exhibited hyper-sensitivity to Mako, which is not a desirable aspect. In fact, the reason all SOLIDERS were male was because males react to mako more positively than females do." Her eyes fixed on Tifa just then and looked thoughtful. "However, there have been documented cases of people living around mako reactors who have high concentrations of mako in their bodies and if 'she'," pointed at Tifa with her chin, frowned and then nodded as if remembering something, "Miss. er … Heart …er …anyway is a living example of such a case. I would like to run some tests on you if possible …"
"No," said Cloud, Cid, Vincent and Nanaki together which made her jump a little and Reno coughed from the doorway, sounding thoroughly amused.
"Of course there will be no invasive tests," Dr. Wilde continued. "We have limited such experiments to animals …" her eyes zeroed on Nanaki and looked thoughtful which did not endear her to anyone.
Cloud knew it was sometimes hard to remember Nanaki as anything other than the big red cat he resembled. Barret frequently referred to Nanaki as the 'big flea bag' and Tifa always fed him milk in a big bowl on the floor when he visited. During their travels, Nanaki had preferred to sleep outside instead of the tents and had hunted his own food more than once. Still he was one of the group and no one liked it when anyone outside of their little collection referred to Nanaki as anything less.
"Can we get back on topic," Rufus said dryly and she nodded, obviously dying to take everyone at the table down to the lab and dissect them but was held back by her boss.
"The most observable remnants are the ones we call Yazoo and Loz," she continued and started giving out a series of observations by which her team had measured their stamina, strength about them which Cloud did not listen to. As far as he was concerned, the only thing to do when faced with one was to pull out his sword. The doctor dismissed Loz, pointing out some form of mental development problem. Tifa looked as if she wanted to say something but obviously bit her tongue, her dislike for the doctor overriding her curiosity. Remembering that Tifa had been the only person of their group to get one to one time with Loz, Cloud wondered what she had wanted to know but dismissed it as unimportant. Had it been something really critical, he knew she would have spoken. Additionally, those two were dead and as far as Cloud was concerned, that was good enough, unless they were planning on a resurrection.
Listening to the doctor talk made Cloud's eyes glaze and he was not the only person who was losing attention when she started on her slides on Yazoo. "…may have solved the breeding problem," she continued.
"Problem?" Nanaki spoke up, making everyone jump. "I did not realize there was a problem."
"As I said before, the only successful products of mako infusion were males," the doctor said, looking disconcerted as if speaking to a lab rat. "Therefore, there was a lack of suitable females for breeding with the SOLIDERS. To breed females who were adaptable to mako infusions was one of Professor Hojo's dreams and one of his ideas was to start by modifying an existing male into a female."
"And this Yazoo is female?" Vincent suddenly spoke, making Cloud jump since he had not been expecting that. He looked over at the table and was not surprised to see everyone about to say something and wished they were alone without the outsiders so they could resort to humor as they usually did out in the field when faced with some unexpected news.
"He smelled male," Nanaki dismissed the statement with a wave of his tail though Cloud could see he wanted to add something else.
"He looked male -- somewhat," Yuffie said though the last word said she was doubtful.
"He sounded like a guy," Cid pointed out interrupting Yuffie before she could make a crude follow-up.
"He did fight like a girl," Reno spoke from the doorway, sounding slightly amused.
"A girl who kicked your butt," Tifa snapped back.
"A hermaphrodite at least," the doctor continued, looking offended by the whole light-hearted attitude of everyone. "Maybe," she added for good measure.
Cloud suddenly wished Barret was there in the group to express what everyone was thinking, 'who checked under Yazoo's skirt'.
"What does this have to do with the matter at hand?" Vincent asked dismissing the rest of the information as immaterial. Or perhaps he intended to follow it up discreetly at the correct time.
"By figuring out the remnants physical characteristics, we can narrow it down to scientists who are capable of producing such clones," Tseng said softly. "Which in turn help us narrow down the regions they or he might be residing."
The presentation continued for a little while longer but obviously the good doctor only came out of the lab to look at the world in-between experiments and needed to return since her centrifuge needed to be emptied of samples or something similar. Cloud who had zoned out by then tried to look impassive as she picked up her things and got ready to leave. Cloud stiffened as she walked past his seat, never comfortable with the thought of someone like her at his back when she stopped and looked at Vincent. "Will you becoming to the lab later on?" she inquired calmly.
As Cloud opened his mouth to tell her that she was obviously mistaken and should kindly mover herself out of his vicinity, Vincent nodded. "I'll be there soon," he said in a dismissive tone, as if displeased that she had brought up that topic in the middle of the conference room.
"Yes, of course," the doctor nodded then walked out so fast everyone blinked. At the door Reno gave her a mock bow which she ignored or frankly did not notice since she was already looking preoccupied as if planning her next experiment.
"I can't believe you have her here," Tifa said coldly as soon as she had left. "She is like a younger, female version of Hojo."
"If I let her go, I'll have to kill her," Rufus said coldly. "She knows far too much and she is intelligent. Here, I can control her funding and keep an eye on her experiments so nothing uncalled for happens but if I let her go, she might turn into another Hojo," he added. "Additionally, I need someone who is not squeamish to go through Hojo's files and understand his experiments."
Tifa remained thoughtful for a moment and then nodded though Cloud could see she was less than satisfied. Rufus stood up, a little slowly but steadily and walked to the projector. "Let's continue," he said as he went to his presentation.
Rufus ShinRa was talking; he had been talking steadily for some time though Cloud did not really have anything to listen to. He never had much of an attention spam when it came to listening to such useless things and he did not care for all the statistics they were being told. He shifted in his seat to a more comfortable position, wishing his sword was within arms reach instead of mounted on the wall alongside all the other weapons everyone else had brought. He was sure the Turks were armed even if they were not making it obvious and there were at least two Turks in the room.
He knew the relationship between the Turks and Soldier were complex at best and they did work together unless strictly necessary. He remembered that Zack had gotten on rather well with Tseng but then again Zack had gotten on well with nearly everyone. The Turks' presence made Cloud uneasy but he was not about to comment on it; instead he focused on Rufus who had been speaking during the time his mind was wandering and wondered if he had missed much. The world map projected on the wall was now sprinkled with red dots which Cloud assumed were key locations to … something.
"We'll need to do a sweep of each of these locations to verify the reports," Rufus droned and Cloud almost rolled his eyes. Typical, he thought, no wonder Rufus wanted them there. In his opinion Rufus wanted AVALANCHE out of the way, going from one location to the other coming across nothing while he perfected whatever mastermind plan with his opposition safely from Midgar.
Cloud bit his tongue waiting for his moment before voicing his protests. He knew he could not speak for everyone present, and he hoped everyone else would see the drawback of such an arrangement. However, he could not hide his displeasure on his face and Rufus was quick to pick up on that.
"Do you have a problem with this Strife," he said coldly, breaking off from his pre-planned speech.
"It seems to be a waste of time," he said, racking his brain to see if he could remember everything. "All these locations cannot be labs, why not send some of your forces to find that out. Why involve us?"
"Most labs, from what you said have to be near a mako stream, probably running water," Cid, who had been paying more attention than Cloud supplied. And unlike Cloud, he had been trained to be an aeronautical engineer and was probably of a higher than normal intelligence. "Why not search in such areas, not all over."
"We have narrowed it down to four possible labs in various areas," Tseng spoke softly, cutting off whatever scathing reply Rufus had been about to make. "Once the threat has been neutralized the rest can be destroyed by ground troops …"
"I don't see why you …" Cloud started to protest, ignoring Tseng's speech. He did not trust a Turk to tell him the truth; that was like expecting Barret to quote Loveless.
Whatever he had been said was cut off when Vincent discreetly put a hand on his knee, making Cloud jump though he managed to cut off the undignified squeak before it escaped his lips. Vincent's hand was warm and it gripped his knee firmly in a familiar manner, making him feel as if his entire focus was his knee.
"How many men did you lose?" Vincent ignoring the fact his hand was now resting on Cloud's. Though Cloud knew it was a gesture from Vincent telling him to be quiet, he wondered if it was as intimate as he imagined it to be. Perhaps, Reno who was leaning against the door could see it as well, and Cloud cringed at the thought. He did not want any more rumours thank you very much. Already his friends were looking at him and Vincent as if they were having a wedding, not Tifa and Barret and he really did not need the extra trouble.
Rufus looked at Vincent with a levelled glare. "I have no idea what you are referring to," he said.
"You must have sent forces there before this," Vincent said in a gravely voice, his face impassive. "But …" he glanced around the table and then continued. "…you don't have that many troops to send. Otherwise you would not have sent Turks to retrieve a piece of Jenova from the crater." He looked at Tseng who nodded his head, either in confirmation or just acknowledging that fact Vincent had rescued him from the clutches of Kadaj and the gang later on. "How many men do you have and how many men do did you lose?"
"We didn't lose any men since we didn't send any," Tseng said softly. He ignored Rufus' outraged look as he continued. "The Turks are all we've got and our numbers have fallen. We do have a few SOILDIERS but we don't have any on active duty and we do not want to send anyone to these labs without knowing what is there."
"Cloud is a SOLIDER in all but name," Tifa spoke up. "What makes you think it's safe for him to go there."
"We know we cannot send any of you without him," Tseng replied without flinching. "He will want to be involved and it would be better if he were to at least know and be given a choice."
Cloud wanted to know what exactly they suspected were at these labs or lab when Vincent spoke again, squeezing Cloud's knee in a gesture to silence him. "Where's Rude?"
"We were attacked by the remaining Remanats," Rufus replied to that query. "As we were returning from Rocket town."
"Loz and Yazoo," Cloud said in surprise. "I thought you killed them…"
"So did we," Reno replied from the doorway and Cloud could hear his disgust. "But they ambushed us when we landed for a refuelling stop."
"Still asking for mother?" Cloud wanted to know.
"No, much more co-ordinated attack," Rufus replied. "It was almost as if they wanted to see how strong we were."
"Are you sure you don't have anything they need?" Cloud asked, not willing to let it go. "Not hiding anything in your lap are you?" He was referring to the previous incident when Rufus had a part of Jenova in a box on his lap but the moment the words left his mouth, he realised that it was probably not the best way of wording it. His fears were confirmed when Reno snorted derisively from his position and even Tseng looked faintly amused. Cloud blushed red, and was about to sink back into his seat when Yuffie saved him by making a timely inquiry about just how injured Rude was.
"He'll live," Rufus replied dismissively. "But it goes to show we need people who are more … physically assertive."
Cloud could see Cid look around, chewing his unlit cigarette thoughtfully. "You want to go to these places on an air-ship," he stated. "Like we did before, load the equipment and the people and move from place to place."
"Yes," Rufus nodded, not looking at all pleased the meeting was getting out of control. "But…"
"Even if we make one day stops there are about ten different locations to search and that is going to take some time," he pointed out.
"We split into teams," Rufus continued. "Go to all the lab locations starting from the bottom, working our way up. That way, even if they are unoccupied there will be no way of them being used in the future."
"Wait a minute," said Cid, obviously latching on to something. "Us?"
"I will be accompanying you." In the midst of protests from both sides, Cloud dismissed the thought that Rufus was up to something nefarious while they were out of the way. Rufus was going to accompany them and stab them from behind while they were missions, either figuratively or literally.
"Who's running the company in your absence?" Vincent asked, his hand still resting on Cloud's thigh, almost as if he had forgotten it was there. His thumb moved restlessly, either an indication he was distracted or he really enjoyed the feel of Cloud squirming discreetly.
"I will be running the company from the mobile air base," Rufus replied firmly. "I'll be much safer moving around than in one place."
"And this sounds like a perfectly feasible plan because …" Cloud said dryly. "The answer is no."
"Just like that," Rufus asked dryly, not at all shaken by the abrupt refusal.
"I will go alone or with a few of my friends," Cloud spat out forcefully. "I refuse to travel around the world with a group of Turks and … you …" He pointed at Rufus before putting his hand down over Vincent's … forcing it off his thigh almost accidentally. Cloud knew Vincent had kept his hand there to prevent Cloud from making such an outburst but he really couldn't help it. The hand was far too distracting and really, Vincent should stop giving other people ideas.
"I was not suggesting you be accompanied by the entire department,' Rufus said smoothly. "I was thinking of just me …"
"And two other Turks," Tseng interrupted.
"One," Tifa spoke up suddenly making Cloud snap his head around in surprise.
"What," he started to say but she dismissed him with a glance. "Just Rufus and one other Turk as his bodyguard. We do not take your air base, we either go on Shera or the Highwind," Tifa said clearly. "And you do not dictate where we go and what we do."
"Tifa," Cloud started to say but Tifa turned on him and it took all his willpower not to flinch.
"Don't you get it Cloud," she said impatiently. "We have to take out those labs … you can't do it alone, you need our help even if its' just because a larger number of people will mean we can split into parties and search several locations at once."
"But Rufus…" Cloud started then stopped as Vincent's hand returned to its previous place. This time the hand was higher up on his thigh and he gasped at the sensation of having so intimate a touch in public.
"We can't go blowing up ShinRa property like we did last time," Tifa replied for all of them. "With him accompanying us, we have permission."
"Hate to point this out," Cid spoke softly. "But he can just give the go ahead from here. He doesn't have to come with us."
"He's safer with us than here," Vincent replied in his low gravely tone as he turned towards Tseng. "How many attacks has there been since last month on Rufus' life?" He asked.
Tseng coloured slightly at that but met Vincent's gaze squarely over Cloud's head. "Five," he said. "Only three of them were from professionals and…"
"We don't need to… "Rufus started to reply.
"We do," Reeve countered with a grimace. "I'll stay here and help out with the running of the day to day operations."
"Aren't you tied up with your own little pet project," Rufus sneered at Reeve, to which the other man shrugged.
"I am in charge of urban reconstruction and WRO is …"
Cloud felt as if he had jumped in the deep end. Most of the conversation was over his head as if he was only catching snatches of some on going soap opera and he really did not want to get involved in it. However, he knew Tifa was willing to help and he could not overlook a threat of mad scientists running around releasing more like Kadaj and the gang on innocent civilians. Additionally, he wanted to kill the remnants and get it over with – the thought of those silver haired punks riding around causing mayhem was not something he was comfortable with.
He could not be everywhere all the time and the thought of Tifa having to deal with them alone, again, made his blood freeze.
"Who's the Turk who is coming with us?" he asked.
"Tseng can accompany me," Rufus said decisively, not at all surprised Cloud had agreed to the arrangement.
"I am sorry sir but I must remain here," Tseng replied respectfully. "I think Reno is more suitable for the job, he is more active in the field than I am."
Cloud looked over his shoulder at Reno who was smirking in a self satisfied way and rolled his eyes. This was turning out to be a nightmare.
A/N
first of all, this chapter is a plot filler – I need it but after not writing for sometime, I had to force it out. Anyway, the next few chapter should pick up on the pace and action … I hope.
