Chapter 13 – Old Friends and Decisions

It took Shelke a good thirty minutes to walk to the WRO Headquarters. When she got there, Reeve was already in the front lobby chatting with the receptionist behind the large newly installed front desk there. She approached him and he greeted her with enthusiasm and surprise.

"Shelke! It's good to see you. It must be my lucky day, you just missed Vincent." He blinked in confusion when Shelke's eyes widened. "What's wrong?"

"Vincent was just here?"

"Yes, he walked in ten minutes ago and asked for access to our records of every event over the last four years or so. He said he was looking for something important. I thought that was odd but then, you know how he is. He just left."

Shelke frowned, pursing her lips thoughtfully. It was an expression Reeve was very familiar with.

"Shelke, tell me what's going on."

"I will but not here. Will you allow me to perform a direct SND with the mainframe? It's important."

"Sure. You really don't need to ask me. After what you've done for us, you have free reign here. I'll come with you and you can explain everything on the way."

Shelke followed Reeve as he headed for a special elevator leading down to the refrigerated basement that held the WRO's mainframe computer system. On the way, she filled him in on what she already knew.

"I am afraid that the man you saw shortly before I arrived was not really Vincent." Reeve's brows flew up at that. "Yesterday, Vincent came to me saying that he had received a message of sorts in a dream. That evening he and Tifa were attacked by what you saw and again at least fifteen minutes before it came here. Based on what I have already seen, this creature is very powerful, very fast, and very intelligent. By granting it access to the records stored here, it has undoubtedly obtained detailed knowledge about every event that happened over the last four years with the intent to use it against Vincent."

Reeve cursed softly while the elevator doors closed and pressed the button for the basement level. "If I had known…"

"There was no way you could have known. I have my suspicions about what this being is and if I am correct, you would have been infinitely better off cooperating with its demands anyways."

"What do you think it is?"

"I … I do not think I should speculate out loud until I have verified what I suspect is contained in the file I am about to decode."

"So that's why you're here. You think it has something to do with this thing that's causing trouble?"

"The file was created by Professor Hojo and Vincent believes that he is connected to this in some way. It was encrypted and accidentally uploaded into my memory when I was given information pertinent to my assignment as a member of the Tsviets. It may turn out to be nothing more than a grocery list but the fact that it was encrypted at all raises a red flag. Professor Hojo was not the type to keep secrets among his colleagues if he felt it would bring him recognition."

Reeve snorted. "You've got that right."

The elevator doors rolled open and they stepped out. Shelke paused just inside the hall and turned to Reeve. "This being is very dangerous, Reeve. If it returns, do not let it suspect that you know it is not the real Vincent. Will you please call my personal terminal if you see it again? You will know it is not the real Vincent if it shows up alone." Neither of them failed to catch the irony in that sentence.

"Absolutely. And don't worry about using any of our resources here, Shelke. Everything we can offer is at your disposal. Tell Vincent that he has my support as well when you see him." Reeve turned around to re-enter the elevator and left Shelke to work her magic in the bowels of the building.

--

She was drowning. At least it felt that way. She couldn't breathe. Her throat closed in on itself against her will and refused to let her draw air into her burning lungs. Somewhere above her she saw a murky greenish light that she thought she'd seen somewhere before. It made her think of a friend she'd lost years ago and it seemed to be calling for her.

She reached out but it was too far away. If only she could breathe, she would have the energy to swim up to it, but something heavy held her down. She tried to draw a breath once more but her throat only closed tighter. The pain in her chest felt like the very fires of hell had sprouted inside her lungs.

She kicked her feet to dislodge whatever was wrapped around her ankles. It did no good. She stretched her arms toward that gentle green glow. Maybe if she tried hard enough, she could will it to reach down and take her hands. She knew it was futile. As much as she wanted to go to that welcome light, she knew it was hopelessly out of reach.

She bent and felt around her ankles while keeping her eyes on the light above, lest it abandon her to her cruel fate. Her chest felt like it was about to explode. She knew her time was running out. She only had a few precious seconds left to free herself. With gut wrenching regret she tore her eyes away from the green glow above and looked down at her feet.

Below her, she saw that each of her ankles was grasped by a hand. One was a metal claw and the other was a bare hand of flesh. She thought she recognized them both and knew that they belonged to two different people, distinctly male. She only had the strength to pry one of them loose. Blackness began to close in on her and she thought it odd that she could sweat profusely under water. With her last desperate ounce of life, she made her choice.