The next two days passed in blissful boredom. A Junon girl tried to strike up a relationship with Evan and he accepted, not because he particularly liked her but because he suspected she was an assassin, a surmise that turned out to be correct. People knew about him, and generally avoided him in case of guilt by association. It ended badly. She tried to kill him, and he wound up breaking her arm in five places and tossing her off the pier.
Apart from that small hiccup (and what did that say about his life, that he barely noticed somebody trying to kill him), nothing much happened. He began to settle in to the Junon garrison, and actually started thinking maybe he'd be okay. But it wasn't long before what he'd come to think of as 'the Evan Factor' kicked in.
On the evening of the third day, he was called to the Mayor of Junon's office and told he'd impressed the Prez so much by surviving Fort Condor that he'd been asked to step in as a temporary member of the Presidential Guard. Typical. You climb out of a meat grinder, and they find a more efficient one.
Which is how he found himself in the Gold Saucer with the other replacement troops from Junon, listening to Rufus briefing them on exactly what his duties were. He was mildly surprised to find nothing too dangerous involved, but remained skeptical. If that was so true, what had happened to the previous presidential guard? He was even more surprised to find Rufus telling them exactly that.
"You may be wondering, if your duties are so simple, what has happened to the last Presidential Guard? I'm well aware of the cynical nature of most Shinra employees. It makes them better workers. You don't have to believe me if you don't want to, and frankly, I don't care, as long as you do what I pay you for. But, just in case, this is what happened.
"When I left Midgar, Hojo practically begged me to bring along his...newest model...of the Presidential Guard. They were built to be loyal, unstoppable, and obedient. By the time I'd reached the Gold Saucer, their constant vigilance was beginning to get on my nerves, so I told them to take an evening off, except for the two survivors. Wishing to avoid an international incident, I explicitly ordered them not to hurt anyone, but forgot to mention 'except in self defense.' So when that psychopath got into Battle square and started shooting, they just stood there and took it til they died. That's why you're here, to make up the numbers. Any questions?"
Nobody spoke. They were all trying to think his story through, checking for holes. It was plausible. Hojo probably could fuck up people enough that this would happen. Rufus' details corresponded with what the Shinra Times and the Gold Saucer staff said, although that didn't mean much. You didn't stay President for long by being careless. But one question remained, and one of the other recruits finally asked it.
"So where's this psychopath now?"
"AVALANCHE killed him when they passed through."
"They were here!!?"
"Yes. The only reason I stopped here was to drop off 'a package' for them. Any other questions?"
Nobody spoke.
"Okay. Be back here tomorrow by this time. Until then, you're free to do as you wish. Don't kill anyone." He had been walking away while saying this, but stopped at the door, theatrically slapping his forehead. "I'm not about to make that mistake again. You kill somebody; you'd better have a very compelling reason for it, okay? Dismissed."
