When Barret Wallace first approached her with his strange request, Aeris Gainsborough refused outright.
Barret knew of her by reputation; one of the best extractors of her field, adept at entering the dreams of a target, locating their deeply held secrets and leaving before they had the faintest idea of the intrusion. Stacking dreams two deep remained her favourite tactic; a buffer to minimise the chance of catastrophic realisation by the target.
But Barret wanted the opposite of her expectise - not extraction. He already knew enough and it worried him to the point he asked for the near impossible. The planting of a notion. Not easy. Never before successfully recorded. She reconsidered over time. The request was to convince Rufus Shinra to abandon mako processing, to split the various divisions of his corporate empire. To no longer rule the world and sap at its life force. A difficult goal to resist; the job would be good for her. The results good for the world. And Barret insisted he did not simply want to supplant Shinra and take his place. He wanted the world to keep on living no matter what for his daughter.
A tough assignment. A tiny seed would need planting in the depths of Rufus Shinra's mind. A new thought grafted so delicately it would feel like part of his own imagination. The parts came together in a rush; a long-haul airship flight provided an opportunity to infiltrate.
Reeve Tuesti was her Forger; master of disguise, taking different roles as and when needed. He would be responsible for the lowest level of the dream, a fortress inspired by Fort Condor. Tifa Lockhart was the magic expert and responsible for the first level; she worked the sleep Materia to keep Rufus under as long as they needed. Her part of the dream was a twisted, snarled up section of Sector Eight's Upper Plate.
Yuffie Kisaragi was the architect; the only one of the group to know the layout of the three levels. Barret insisted on attending as a tourist; to see the process from the other side and gain assurances Aeris had done what she claimed. Vincent Valentine was the Point Man, arranging facilities and information in addition to the second dream, a haunted hotel in an amusement park.
Cloud never had an official designation. Part tourist, part heavy weapons expert. No expectation of needing those capabilities, but it never hurt to prepare for these heists. The seven of them assembled in the cabin with the unconscious Rufus. Final few checks; Aeris triggered the mind spell, clutching the Materia tight. Tifa invoked her sleep spell and dropped down into the first dream.