EPISODE 3:

GUESTS OF SHINRA

Corporations have neither bodies to be punished, nor souls to be condemned; they therefore do as they like.

-Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow

CHAPTER 11:

THE PRESIDENT AND THE POTTER

It hadn't taken them long to be taken back, not to Midgar, but to another city, called Junon, a vast city set into the side of a cliff, and with a gigantic cannon protruding from it. Harry, as they were escorted from the Highwind, heard Cid muttering something about Heidegger compensating for something with that cannon(1). He didn't know why: Heidegger was a big, burly man who shouted a lot. Heidegger, in fact, reminded Harry uncomfortably of Vernon. And Scarlet reminded him uncomfortably of his aunt, if his aunt was actually beautiful instead of horse-faced(2). Thankfully, neither he nor Aerith spent very long in their company, nor that of Hojo.

Harry remembered a talk his aunt gave him, in a brief spasm of decency, about perverts, about paedophiles. He didn't think Hojo was a child abuser, but all the same, the predatory look in his eyes had Harry experience the dread and fear he had felt after Petunia's lecture(3).

Harry and Aerith were instead escorted by Elena and Rude, with the troopers present escorting the rest of AVALANCHE (save for Cait Sith, who went off by himself), possibly to cells. Any protest Harry might have made was cut off by Aerith. They had been disarmed not long after the Highwind took off from the crater. Harry had been checked over by a doctor, even had his blood taken, but he, and most of the others, were treated with, if not care, then without violence. Barrett was a major exception, and Jenova had been dragged off. Yuffie had been sick with motion sickness on the trip over, and Rude, apparently taking pity on the young ninja, had given her a tranquiliser to calm her roiling stomach.

Harry had felt something happen on the way to Junon, a strange tingle centred on the pocket of his coat. But given how much he and the others had been under guard, he hadn't tried looking at the cause.

And what of Cloud? And Tifa? He hadn't known them very long, and Cloud had been not just suspicious of them, but also tried to attack them, albeit in his berserk fury. But all the same, Cloud had a lot of issues, it seemed. And Tifa wanted to help him. He hoped they were okay.

And what of Rufus Shinra? Harry noticed that they were following Rufus into the city, down various corridors, presumably to some place where big decisions were made. He was a rather cold man, young, but cold as ice. A number of people shoved papers into the young man's hands, which he studied. At one point, he stopped, and then gave Harry an appraising look. Then, he continued, before taking out a PHS unit, and saying, "Reeve? Are you sure these records are correct? Did you triple check them?" After listening to the reply, he said, "Very well. I'll meet you in the main Junon Boardroom, I'll be there within a minute. And stop Palmer from drinking!" After another pause, he nodded. "Yes, I know it helped him survive being hit by a truck(4). But he still shouldn't be drinking so much. He doesn't have a lot of brain cells to lose as it is." With that, Rufus shut off his PHS, and sighed. "I'm surrounded by idiots. Between Horse-Laugh and the Scarlet Woman and Piggy Palmer, it's a wonder my father got anything done," he muttered sullenly.

"It's so hard to find good help these days," Aerith said with a wry smile.

Rufus rounded on her, a glare in his icy blue eyes, before a thin smile twitched at his lips. "It is, isn't it?" He then spun back, and strode off, with Aerith, Harry, and the two Turks following him.

They eventually came to a vast boardroom, with a long table made of dark, panelled wood, and dominated by a large window that looked out over the ocean. Two others were currently present, neither of whom Harry recognised. One of them was a rotund man with thinning grey hair and a florid complexion, hurriedly putting away a hip flask. The other was a more slender man, with a gentle face and a neatly-trimmed goatee, but with a slightly nervous disposition. If Harry had any inclination towards gambling at his young age, he would have pegged, correctly, the former as Palmer and the latter as Reeve. They were escorted to seats and allowed to sit.

"Well, well, Elena," drawled a nasal voice, and Harry realised a third person had been present in the room. Like Elena and Rude, he was dressed in the distinctive suit of the Turks, but rather sloppily. He had messy red hair done up in a ponytail, goggles pushed up on his forehead, and green eyes. He slouched his way over. "Leavin' aside the whole debacle with Sephiroth, you actually did good. Congrats."

"Uh, thanks, Reno?" Elena said, a trifle uncertainly.

"Where are the others?" Aerith asked.

"Being interrogated by Scarlet and Heidegger," Rufus said. "However, given your value, we thought a less…arduous questioning was in order. I can assure you that whatever harm is done to them, will probably be mostly done to Mr Wallace. He is the leader of AVALANCHE as it exists now, and is thus primarily responsible for the deaths caused during the bombings of the Mako Reactors. The others present have lesser charges by comparison, and so they may be dealt with more leniently. There has been at least one advocate for that."

Aerith and Harry didn't fail to notice Reeve's eyes flicker, and Aerith muttered, "You were Cait Sith, weren't you?"

His eyes betrayed him, even though he remained silent. "Well, I suppose it doesn't matter now. Yes, Reeve Tuesti, in charge of Urban Development Planning, as well as one of the key Mako Reactor architects, and rather skilled in robotics and AI," Rufus said.

Aerith frowned. While she hadn't been present, she remembered what Tifa had said about the board meeting that she, Cloud, and Barrett had overheard while trying to rescue Aerith from Shinra HQ. Reeve had been the only executive present to show any concern for the residents of Sector 7 and the slums below. If that was true, then Cait Sith's attitude did make some sense.

"In any case, let me ask you to confirm the validity of what I am about to say. Sephiroth has managed to get a hold of this Black Materia, and in all likelihood, he has used it. Which means Meteor could very well be on the way. Am I correct?"

Aerith and Harry both nodded. Elena said, "I would like to apologise, sir, for failing my mission. I failed to stop Sephiroth."

Rufus looked up at Elena. Eventually, he said in a calm, level voice, "Apology accepted. But we all failed. The only question, when it comes to stopping Sephiroth, is what next? But there is another issue at hand. Intelligence gained by Cait Sith stated that Harry Potter had come from another world. I thought this patently untrue. However, during transit, I had my doctors take a blood sample, partly to have something to distract Hojo, and partly to see if I could find your nearest relatives through DNA testing."

"DNA testing?(5)" Harry asked.

Rufus frowned, before he said, "Like a fingerprint, but relating to the genetic material within you. Did they teach you this in school? Apparently not. In any case, we can tell who your family is, as we have extensive records, mostly of criminals and Shinra personnel."

"Like there's a difference," Reno drawled facetiously.

Rufus shot the insolent Turk a look, before returning to Harry and Aerith. "Also, people who have check-ups in Shinra-run medical clinics. Our records are extensive enough that we could probably tell where your family comes from, give or take. And what did Reeve discover when he ran your DNA fingerprint through the records? Nothing. While our records are far from exhaustive, we should have been able to find a relatively close match, even to a distant cousin. In fact, one of the closest people we have on record is none other than Miss Gainsborough here, thanks to Hojo taking samples from her when she arrived at headquarters." He indicated Aerith. "And even she isn't closely related by any means, save for your mitochondrial DNA."

"In fact," Reeve said, his soft voice surprisingly deep, "the point of divergence appears to be about 2000 years ago, during the time of what the Cetra claimed was the Jenova crisis of the time. That's what the analysis program told me."

"So it seems that your story, fantastical though it is, has some small merit. However, that is not why I have brought you here. Most of what I know about the situation, I learned from Cait Sith," Rufus said. "Events have given me…pause for thought. I thought that the Great Northern Crater was the Promised Land. I don't know whether the boy can tell me, but perhaps you can tell me, Miss Gainsborough. Does the Promised Land exist?"

Aerith gazed at Rufus levelly. "Why now? You pursued me throughout my life, caring nothing for my opinion. Why start listening to me now?"

Rufus seemed to control himself with a supreme effort, before saying, "Hojo, of all people, said that it wasn't the Promised Land. He said it was a wound caused by the arrival of Jenova, and that we weren't seeing past the Mako and Materia. Intelligence gained by Cait Sith at Cosmo Canyon suggested that the Promised Land is more…metaphysical. Am I on the right track?"

After a while, Aerith nodded. "It seems that the Promised Land is most likely to be the Lifestream itself. For an Ancient, there is no greater goal than to return to the Planet you have helped, and join with it."

Rufus considered her, before saying a calm word that summed up his thoughts succinctly. "Damnation."

"So, you're giving up your search for the Promised Land?" Aerith asked.

"I'm not giving up a search for the site of Neo-Midgar, if that's what you mean," he said, getting to his feet and walking to the window. "But events have forced me to reconsider the actual existence of the Promised Land. And in any case, searching for it, at the moment, is somewhat moot. I've had Heidegger send out remote reconnaissance drones to the Crater to see if we can find anything. Reports should come in before long. But I think stopping Sephiroth and Meteor is a greater priority. After all, there's no point in trying to rule the world when a madman is trying to destroy it instead."

"Aerith's already done more than you," Harry said, speaking up for the first time. "Aerith, tell him about Holy."

"Ah, yes, I do know about Holy," Rufus said. "Once more, Cait Sith delivers. But where was Holy when Sephiroth summoned Meteor?"

"He could know how to block it. Sephiroth is already powerful enough to do so. So defeating Sephiroth should be our priority, both Shinra's and AVALANCHE's."

Rufus opened his mouth to speak, before a ringtone wafted through the air. Palmer, who had been dozing, sat bolt upright, and fumbled for his own phone. Seeing their looks, Rufus said, "I had my astronomers around the world on the alert, looking out for any large approaching celestial bodies. It seems that Meteor may be on its way."

"WHAT?!" Palmer suddenly yelled into the phone. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME? YOU'D BETTER NOT BE! Well, damn! Okay, keep an eye on it, and keep us appraised(6). Palmer out." The rotund man folded his phone away, and looked at Rufus, his usually florid face pale and sweating. "Astronomers have discovered an object fifty kilometres wide heading our way. In fact, they've observed it before, and it seemed to suddenly veer off course. ETA seems to be about three weeks(7)." Palmer pulled out his hip flask and swigged copiously from it.

"This isn't the time, Palmer!" Rufus snapped.

"Rufus, I just had a phone call saying a big damn rock is about to hit us within three weeks and probably kill us all. I don't know about you, but I'd say that this is exactly the time! Hic!"

"He has a point, sir," Reno drawled.

Rufus glared at them both. "Drinking yourself to death is not what we will do at Shinra! I don't care if it is futile, I refuse to go to my death like a chocobo to the abattoir without doing something. Reeve! As Palmer seems set on remaining the useless dolt that he is, you call Heidegger and Scarlet. One of them may have a means of destroying Meteor before it reaches the Planet."

"Sir," Reeve said with a nod, before leaving the room, fumbling for his PHS.

"Rude? Elena? Take these two to secure accommodation. VIP treatment, understand? I'd prefer to avoid killing the goose that laid the golden egg. And later, Miss Gainsborough can tell me more about Holy."

The two Turks saluted, and made their way out, their prisoners in tow.

The accommodation was certainly luxurious. Elena explained that it was normally for VIPs from other countries and organisations who needed secure premises to stay. Harry had never known such luxury, and Aerith had only seen such things in books and TV, unless you counted Don Corneo's Mansion. And he, well, he tended to enjoy extremely garish décor, to say the least.

But a gilded cage was a cage nonetheless. They were left to their own devices, but Aerith knew that they were being watched, and warned Harry.

It was then that Harry remembered the strange tingling he had felt from his coat pocket earlier, and searched it. He frowned when he found an envelope, and a rather thick one at that. Made seemingly of parchment, and with his name on it, written in a rather extravagantly loopy script.

"Where'd you get that?" Aerith asked, curious.

"I…I felt it arrive in my coat. I don't know how it got there, except by some sort of magic," Harry muttered. He opened it, and looked for the name of the sender. His eyes widened. "Albus Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore? But he's the one who left you with the Dursleys. How could he get a letter to you?"

Harry almost wanted to tear the letter up. But he stopped himself. Hopefully, Dumbledore had some very good apologies in here. So he started at the beginning, and read it out loud…

CHAPTER 11 ANNOTATIONS

In the game, Tifa falls unconscious during the Weapons' emergence, and stays that way for a week. Given the different circumstances, I thought things should be different when the team returns to Junon. The emphasis here is on Harry and Aerith, and their first full meeting with Rufus.

Rufus Shinra is a bit of a troubling character. In Advent Children, he makes a sudden change to being a good guy, albeit one who is manipulative to a degree that Dumbledore might be proud. So I wanted to try and bridge that gap, as Rufus isn't as complex a character in the original game. I decided, at this point in his life, he is a brutal pragmatist. Selfish and callous, but he won't disregard all information out of hand. Does he have doubts about the Mako Reactors killing the Planet? I don't think he cares. Would he rather rule through fear than love? Yes. But he also doesn't discount everything, even what AVALANCHE says, at least where Sephiroth and Meteor is concerned. I've decided to write scenes that shows the transition between the cold-hearted CEO to the redemption-seeking funder of the WRO.

1. When I captioned a screenshot of the Sister Ray (while it was at Junon) for my playthrough of the Steam version, I made this very same crack. A lot of Heidegger's actions suggest overcompensation.

2. Scarlet looks down on Tifa in the game, and looks down on a lot of people in general. Petunia certainly has this flaw, though Scarlet certainly has more style than Petunia Dursley.

3. I don't think Hojo is a paedophile. Then again, what he is is pretty much as bad. He violates people all the same, just not sexually (his experiment with Aerith and Red XIII aside). Then again, I wrote something in a later chapter, not involving Aerith, but her mother…

4. Palmer, rather comically, gets hit by a truck at the end of the single boss fight with him. I heard that drunk people tend to survive physical trauma better because they are more relaxed. Ironic, as drunkenness tends to get you into more of these situations (like car crashes and fights) in the first place. So this is not me advocating you get drunk. That is stupid.

5. This is set in late 1990/early 1991 by Earth's calendar, and I pegged it as January in a previous chapter. DNA testing for criminal cases has been around since the Colin Pitchfork case. DNA testing was used in the 1986/1987 investigation to solve two murders. Pitchfork had bribed a friend to take the test for him, and it was only because the friend was overheard discussing this in a pub that Pitchfork's real DNA was tested. According to Wikipedia, at least four other criminal cases before 1990 involved either convictions or exonerations based on DNA evidence. Harry may or may not have heard of the technique in 1990, so I decided that he hadn't. Given that the world of Final Fantasy VII is advanced enough for genetic manipulation of various kinds, it's almost unthinkable of them to not have DNA fingerprinting.

6. Palmer is an idiot. The word is 'apprised', but he is an idiot, and obsessed with money, as well as alcohol and…shudder tea with LARD in it. I like sweet tea, but who likes it with bloody lard?

7. Allowing one week for Tifa to wake up in the main game, and about two for the final events of the game to take place.

CHAPTER 11 SOUNDTRACK:

Arrival at Junon: Shinra, Inc (FTG).

News of Meteor: The Great Northern Crater (FTG).