I don't own these people, and considering all the others who want to, I'm not even gonna think about trying to change that.
Yeah, I know I'm jumping a bit, but I don't even want to think about how many chapters I'd wind up with if I tried to cover each year...
Chapter 11
~Three years later~
The brightly lit room was a security officer's nightmare. The mass of bodies filling the room made it almost impossible to keep an eye on any one person. Though lights glowed in several places along the ceiling, the lighting was still not adequate enough to keep the corners from being near pitch-black havens for any of the less honest sort of guest that might have been privileged enough to attend.
Of course, there were already inhabitants of the corners, watching out for suspicious activity. The four men in dark blue attire were hardly visible to the rest of the party's attendants. Which suited them just fine. They were on the job, not officially present, and if any of them were caught anywhere other than their designated corner, they would certainly wish that their punishment would merely be getting sent to the corner.
The oldest of the four, and the leader of their division of Shinra Incorporated, leaned heavily against the walls he was to keep watch in. On the far side of sixty years, he was in unbelievably good shape, but his health was quickly deteriorating. He fought to keep this knowledge from his subordinates, though his boss knew.
He'd recently learned the cause of his health issues, and though his boss knew something was wrong, the Shinra executive did not know what it was exactly. He was busily trying to figure out whom to name as his successor, but couldn't quite figure out who would best suit the job.
The man in the corner to his left would do fine, as he was the second best of the four at the clerical tasks of filling out reports, and monitoring the cash flow of the departmental division. But he wasn't serious enough to earn or keep the respect of his peers, superiors, or even those whose rank lie below his. He was too much of a prankster, and there was also the fact that no one in Shinra would ever forget his weeklong escapades as a pink TURK three years ago.
To his right, was a more serious version of the first man. Unlike the other, he could not stand the paperwork, but preferred associating with others, and had the respect of many in Shinra Incorporated, not including his two roommates. The problem was, he couldn't do the paperwork, not even when he tried. The division would sink if someone didn't do the paperwork.
And directly opposite him was the third candidate for his position. He was highly skilled at the paperwork, could intimidate people into doing his bidding, and had earned the respect of nearly all those around him. His only problem was honest association. He intimidated people just by being around them. Very few were actually able to speak to him, and he seemed to like it that way.
The older man's musings were so in depth that he didn't notice the two slight men in black approaching him. Nor did he hear the pistol click as its safety was pulled off, and the hammer was pulled. He only knew something was wrong when one of them grabbed him about the throat, and he felt cold metal pressed to his temple.
The partygoers that were close by saw the actions and all of them stopped dancing, which caused a chain reaction along the room. The men in two of the other corners caught glimpses of what was going on, and paled. The third didn't know what was causing all of the panic, and therefore called out on his little radio.
"What's going on?" Vincent's voice piped up over the little device sitting in Uriah's ear.
"Two people have a gun pointed at corner one's head," Triton explained, "They haven't said anything yet, so we have no clue what's going on."
Dragging the old man with them, the two men started toward the platform in the center of the room. Upon reaching its foot, where the Shinra family stood, dressed in their finest, the one not holding the gun called out to them.
"If you don't want this old man's brains all over your clothes and your consciences, then you'll step down your plans for Midgar!"
"He's dying anyway," Shinra bluffed, "So what difference does it make?"
"Fine," the gunman switched the gun from Uriah's head to the small boy on the dais, and quickly squeezed the trigger.
Screams and shouts echoed across the room. Some of the women fainted; others were merely mimicking banshees with their shrill cries. Uriah glanced in the boy's direction, and could just barely make out what had once been a white child's suit, but was now a suit in crimson, scarlet, and so many other shades of red. The old man sighed quietly, that one had been an innocent.
One more gunshot sang through the air. The man holding onto Uriah's throat fell to the ground, taking the older man with him. Uriah quickly disentangled himself from the body, and found himself nose to barrel with another gun. The other man had taken the opportunity of the confusion to aim at their primary target.
The room froze.
"You've seen how serious we are," the man growled, "So do as we say!"
"What's to stop you from shooting him anyway?" Mrs. Shinra spat, "Your kind are not exactly known for their honor!"
A voice sounded next to Uriah's ear, "What are they doing?" Arn was indignant, "Are they trying to get him killed! They're just pissing him off!"
Vincent whispered, "I'm sorry, sir, but you always taught us that when a hostage situation arose,"
The sound of the other two harshly taking in air was Uriah's last warning. He didn't even hear the last bullet in Vincent's gun being fired from its chamber.
~
Um... yeah... didn't see that coming either... Yipes.
I honestly have no clue where this will end, or how long it will take to do so... I'm just as curious as you are.
Yeah, I know I'm jumping a bit, but I don't even want to think about how many chapters I'd wind up with if I tried to cover each year...
Chapter 11
~Three years later~
The brightly lit room was a security officer's nightmare. The mass of bodies filling the room made it almost impossible to keep an eye on any one person. Though lights glowed in several places along the ceiling, the lighting was still not adequate enough to keep the corners from being near pitch-black havens for any of the less honest sort of guest that might have been privileged enough to attend.
Of course, there were already inhabitants of the corners, watching out for suspicious activity. The four men in dark blue attire were hardly visible to the rest of the party's attendants. Which suited them just fine. They were on the job, not officially present, and if any of them were caught anywhere other than their designated corner, they would certainly wish that their punishment would merely be getting sent to the corner.
The oldest of the four, and the leader of their division of Shinra Incorporated, leaned heavily against the walls he was to keep watch in. On the far side of sixty years, he was in unbelievably good shape, but his health was quickly deteriorating. He fought to keep this knowledge from his subordinates, though his boss knew.
He'd recently learned the cause of his health issues, and though his boss knew something was wrong, the Shinra executive did not know what it was exactly. He was busily trying to figure out whom to name as his successor, but couldn't quite figure out who would best suit the job.
The man in the corner to his left would do fine, as he was the second best of the four at the clerical tasks of filling out reports, and monitoring the cash flow of the departmental division. But he wasn't serious enough to earn or keep the respect of his peers, superiors, or even those whose rank lie below his. He was too much of a prankster, and there was also the fact that no one in Shinra would ever forget his weeklong escapades as a pink TURK three years ago.
To his right, was a more serious version of the first man. Unlike the other, he could not stand the paperwork, but preferred associating with others, and had the respect of many in Shinra Incorporated, not including his two roommates. The problem was, he couldn't do the paperwork, not even when he tried. The division would sink if someone didn't do the paperwork.
And directly opposite him was the third candidate for his position. He was highly skilled at the paperwork, could intimidate people into doing his bidding, and had earned the respect of nearly all those around him. His only problem was honest association. He intimidated people just by being around them. Very few were actually able to speak to him, and he seemed to like it that way.
The older man's musings were so in depth that he didn't notice the two slight men in black approaching him. Nor did he hear the pistol click as its safety was pulled off, and the hammer was pulled. He only knew something was wrong when one of them grabbed him about the throat, and he felt cold metal pressed to his temple.
The partygoers that were close by saw the actions and all of them stopped dancing, which caused a chain reaction along the room. The men in two of the other corners caught glimpses of what was going on, and paled. The third didn't know what was causing all of the panic, and therefore called out on his little radio.
"What's going on?" Vincent's voice piped up over the little device sitting in Uriah's ear.
"Two people have a gun pointed at corner one's head," Triton explained, "They haven't said anything yet, so we have no clue what's going on."
Dragging the old man with them, the two men started toward the platform in the center of the room. Upon reaching its foot, where the Shinra family stood, dressed in their finest, the one not holding the gun called out to them.
"If you don't want this old man's brains all over your clothes and your consciences, then you'll step down your plans for Midgar!"
"He's dying anyway," Shinra bluffed, "So what difference does it make?"
"Fine," the gunman switched the gun from Uriah's head to the small boy on the dais, and quickly squeezed the trigger.
Screams and shouts echoed across the room. Some of the women fainted; others were merely mimicking banshees with their shrill cries. Uriah glanced in the boy's direction, and could just barely make out what had once been a white child's suit, but was now a suit in crimson, scarlet, and so many other shades of red. The old man sighed quietly, that one had been an innocent.
One more gunshot sang through the air. The man holding onto Uriah's throat fell to the ground, taking the older man with him. Uriah quickly disentangled himself from the body, and found himself nose to barrel with another gun. The other man had taken the opportunity of the confusion to aim at their primary target.
The room froze.
"You've seen how serious we are," the man growled, "So do as we say!"
"What's to stop you from shooting him anyway?" Mrs. Shinra spat, "Your kind are not exactly known for their honor!"
A voice sounded next to Uriah's ear, "What are they doing?" Arn was indignant, "Are they trying to get him killed! They're just pissing him off!"
Vincent whispered, "I'm sorry, sir, but you always taught us that when a hostage situation arose,"
The sound of the other two harshly taking in air was Uriah's last warning. He didn't even hear the last bullet in Vincent's gun being fired from its chamber.
~
Um... yeah... didn't see that coming either... Yipes.
I honestly have no clue where this will end, or how long it will take to do so... I'm just as curious as you are.