Chapter 37
Taking Action
Sorin looked through the forward viewing area. The planet floating below was now entirely silver, and the body of silver that had been hovering in the darkness of space was now gone. It could have been because all that silver was now on the planet, or maybe because it had gone somewhere else. Either way, things were going downhill.
"We don't know enough about this stuff to assume he's dead," Fox said, looking on with Sorin.
"True," Sorin agreed, "we don't know enough about anything."
"So who do we ask?" asked Fox.
Sorin shook his head, "I don't know, and if I don't know, chances are the rest of the Cetra don't know. We may very well be the only people who know what the silver stuff actually is."
"We gotta figure out where it's going, find a way to stop it," Fox said.
"Where to get that information is the problem," Sorin muttered.
"Well, we haven't really tried shooting it yet," Fox suggested.
Sorin looked at him, "It's a start."
"So now we just have to find it," Fox said, nodding.
"No one here is in any shape to continue, we'll wait," Sorin said, "some of us are hoping Samael will come flying off that planet, but it's been two days. We have to wait for people to lose hope before we can start."
"For a guy who was so annoying he seems to have a lot of friends here," Fox smiled.
"It's not just a friend, we also lost someone who can find loopholes within existences, which means I'm the only person left with the capability."
"So if we lose you we don't have a backup, and we're in trouble," Fox said.
"Whatever happened to Sam, he's on his own, even if I knew how to help him throwing this whole ship anywhere near that planet is out of the question."
"If he's alive, I'm sure he can take care of himself," Fox turned from the viewing area, with his arms crossed.
On the bridge, Cid stood at the controls, staring endlessly forward. Everyone appeared to be in a daze.
Vincent Valentine stood leaning against a wall, arms crossed, not looking any different than he ever did. As if nothing had happened and everything was the same as it ever was. Of course, Vincent knew and was entirely aware of what happened to Samael, as well as how it affected everyone. He also knew if the depression set in then the Cetra would also die in vain.
Rallying forces would get him nowhere; they were in no shape to fight anyone.
"I know what you're thinking," Wymond said. The appearance of the Cetra startled Vincent a bit, but he didn't show it.
"Unlikely," Vincent replied.
"Go off on your own, leave this behind, see if you can make a difference while they wallow," Wymond said.
Vincent looked at the guardian, "It appears you did know what I was thinking."
"I agree," Wymond added.
"Agree that you knew what I was thinking?" asked Vincent.
"I agree that you should leave this behind and see what you can do while they wallow," Wymond reiterated. "One exception to that plan, however. I'll be joining you."
"We can't get anywhere without Sorin," Vincent said logically.
"True enough, my abilities as far as existence jumping are limited, but I have enough to get us to someone who could help with that," Wymond replied.
"Who?" asked Vincent.
"Well, if you're coming, then you'll see," Wymond said simply, "so, are you coming?"
"Does Sorin know?" asked Vincent.
"Even if he did, he couldn't leave the Shera, the ship needs him to jump existences. If Sam were still around he would have come, I'm sure, but at this point we're limited. Even if our endeavour is fruitless, at least we can bring back another with the ability to jump existences."
"Why can't Sorin just travel there and bring them back?" asked Vincent.
"Must you ask so many questions?" countered Wymond.
"Yes, generally," Vincent replied deadpan.
Wymond muttered something and answered the question, "Sorin doesn't know where this person is."
"And you do," Vincent stated.
"Yes," Wymond replied.
"When do we leave?" asked Vincent.
"Finally, a question I can live with," Wymond smiled, "how's now?"
Vincent pushed away from the wall, "Now's fine."
"Let's head into the corridors, if we just disappear here in plain sight we might arouse suspicion," Wymond said.
"As opposed to arousing suspicion when they realize we're gone?" asked Vincent.
"In truth, Sorin would probably try to stop us," Wymond said, lowering his voice, "let's face it, he's a bad-ass Cetra on the outside, but moments like these he gets all protective. We can get more done on our own as opposed to sitting here, he knows that, he just wouldn't like the idea of splitting up, that's all."
"What he doesn't know can't hurt him," Vincent said.
"Yeah," Wymond agreed.
"That really is a terribly misunderstood saying," Vincent muttered.
Wymond nodded to the door on the bridge, "Let's go."
The two walked casually, and unnoticed, off the bridge and into one of the corridors.
"Now I'm gonna have some trouble locating her exactly, but Sam gave me enough info that I can get us in the right existence, at the right time and all that," Wymond said.
"Her?" asked Vincent.
"I intended for it—"
"I'm more interested in where we're going than who we're looking for, personally," Snake cut in, neither Vincent nor Wymond had seen the man standing around the corner of another hallway.
They turned to look at him.
"You two don't plan to sit here and wait, I sure as hell don't, I'd say we're headed to the same place," Snake said, he never really said it in a way that actually came out as a request to come along. More like it was already a known fact.
Wymond and Vincent seemed to notice the uncompromising attitude.
"Another existence, we wanna grab another person who can jump existences like Sam and Sorin can," Wymond explained.
"And you can get us there," Snake guessed.
Wymond nodded.
"Then I suggest we leave before someone else wants to join us," Vincent said.
"Friendly guy," Snake murmured.
"On occasion," Wymond replied shrugging, "just stand still; I'm not particularly good at these long distance trips so this could be rough."
The three disappeared from the ship without a trace; their disappearance wouldn't be noticed for hours.
§§
The ride itself wasn't felt at all. However, the landing was rough.
Snake felt as if the ground had been thrown at him, as opposed to landing on the ground. He landed hard on his side, bounced, and rolled, landing quite violently in a prone position. Wymond and Vincent landed similarly.
"Sorry about that," Wymond struggled to say.
Vincent said nothing; he was first to his feet. Snake got up along with Wymond. They all looked at their surroundings.
"What the hell…" Snake trailed off.
"This is the place," Wymond said, nodding. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to what us Cetra like to call a 'normal' plane of existence."
The landscape was incredibly different from anything Vincent was used to. It was sort of like Midgar, except instead of it just being a spot inside a large green field the entire place appeared to be Migar, with small spots of green field.
Snake was only surprised because it was different, but not unfamiliar.
"What is this place?" asked Vincent.
"It is where, in a sense, Centre Time originated from. There are only four places like this in total. One of which would be where Snake here was created, another in which he actually exists as a person. Here, Vincent Valentine, you exist only in a video game called Final Fantasy VII," Wymond explained.
Vincent looked at the Cetra, "Video game."
"As would any of your other friends, the only ones who wouldn't be known are Sam, Sorin, and myself, among some others, irrelevant as they are," Wymond said. "Here, Snake, you are also known only in a video game, Metal Gear Solid, there's a series of such games, not all by the same exact name."
"So, this place looks exactly like where I come from, but here I don't actually exist as a person?" asked Snake.
"Blurs the lines of reality and imagination," Wymond said, "try not to think about it too much."
"Wouldn't people think it's strange if they saw me, or Vincent here, walking down the street?" asked Snake.
"Remember, now, these people have only ever seen you in computer generated graphics. Here, you just look like very talented masters of disguise. Possibly nerds with far too much time on your hands, and far too much money with which to waste on such ambiguous costumes," Wymond said deadpan, "of course that's a stereotype, you don't have to be a nerd to have too much time on your hands. I think they call it…cos…cospl…cos-something or other. People dress up as characters from certain fictional media. Actually, when you think about it, dressing up like Vincent isn't all that odd around here; people will probably think it looks cool. You know, Information Age and all that."
Vincent looked at Wymond blankly.
"Still, it's gonna be hard to walk around unnoticed if we stand out like we do now," Snake said.
"You're supposed to be the master of stealth, hide somewhere," Wymond said smiling.
Snake glared.
"Sorry," Wymond said, "you're correct; I'll procure you some more normal clothing. Vincent, I imagine you shouldn't have too much trouble following without being seen. You seem to be able to find shadows in all the right places."
Vincent nodded.
Wymond returned shortly with inconspicuous clothing for Snake. Jeans, blue t-shirt, and a brown jacket with enough pockets to hold some of his ammunition.
"Don't worry about the guns, this is the United States, everyone walks around with them," Wymond said.
"Not the one I'm from," Snake said.
"This place is a bit more lawless, but still safer than most existences," Wymond said.
Snake found a place to change and gave his original get up to Wymond who used some convenient Cetra abilities to make it disappear.
"Where do we start?" asked Vincent.
Wymond shrugged, "They may not even be here anymore, if we get near her I can track her down, but otherwise it's trial and error."
"Either way, at least we get a scenic tour," Snake muttered.
"Welcome to New York City, home of the Statue of Liberty," Wymond started walking, "and the third series in the over-killed, and over-played, television show, CSI."
Vincent looked at Snake, "What's a CSI?"
Snake followed Wymond, "Who cares?"