Case Closed
Everyone who had fought on the Plate to defend Midgar had gathered in the President's office, where enough seats for all the Turks and SOLDIER Firsts, Seconds, and Thirds sat. Lazard and Tseng took the middle seats, with Eden (still feeling a little numb and heavy) beside Tseng and Sephiroth beside Lazard. The last two seats on each end of the row held Genesis and Angeal on Sephiroth's side and Rude and Kariya beside Eden. Freyra, Vant, Quis, and Ruluf sat behind the front row Turks while Zack, Kunzel, the last Second, and one of the Thirds sat behind Lazard and the Firsts. Behind them were three more rows of Thirds, most with helmets on.
Across from them and around the President's desk were the heads of the Departments and the President himself. Right in the middle was President Shinra, a rotund man with blond hair and a blond mustache who wore a burgundy suit. To one side of him was a blond woman with her hair tied up in an almost-bun and a rather revealing crimson dress. On the other side of the President was a large man—both tall and wide—dressed in green military garb with black hair and a bushy beard and mustache. Those were obviously the most prominent of the group.
There were, however, three others on the President's side of the room. Beside the woman was a man in a navy blue suit who was very lightly tanned and had short, dark hair. He also looked like the youngest one at the table, and had a computer tablet with him which he glanced at and manipulated slightly every few moments, even while clearly paying close attention to what was going on around him. At a smaller desk with rocket models on it set to the side of the President's desk was another rotund man, but he was short, balding, and wore a tan suit. The last man, beside the one in green, wore a white lab coat and had long, dark hair in a ponytail and glasses.
"So," the President began, eying the group for a minute. He then went on, "You fought off—what? Terrorists? Invaders? And we didn't know until near the tail end of it. In that, I have to commend your skills as Public Security Maintenance employees. On that same token, I would appreciate an explanation of what happened."
"And where the Hell is Veld, and why are the three of you back when you weren't supposed to be here until tomorrow?" the man in green added sharply, eyes on Tseng and the three Firsts.
"We don't currently know where Veld is or why he left earlier today," Tseng began.
Sephiroth cut him off to say, "Genesis, Angeal, and I had gone to Costa del Sol to meet with the newest addition to the Turks, Eden, and Tseng joined up with us to investigate a case, but he and the other Turks were called back early, so we all decided to return with them. Our early return was also Midgar's saving grace in this case, and we had the Director place us all on active duty now instead of tomorrow."
"As to what happened," Tseng took up where the silver haired man left off. "We had apparently just missed the trouble spots as we made our way up to the Plate, and upon stepping into the lobby here, I was informed that Veld had left and given instructions for me to take over in the interim. The attack had recently begun in Sector 2 and was spreading, while incidences in the Slums had pulled away the Infantry and a few in SOLDIER to act as their commanders. Most of the Seconds and all of the Firsts were either on missions or vacations, and the attackers were an even match for the Thirds in skill, but greater in numbers. Two Turks had been dispatched to Sector 2, leaving only the one who delivered the messages to me. Our saving grace was truly the fact that no one knew we were returning, and with five active Turks and the three most skilled and powerful Firsts."
"And that begs the question of who all the Turks are, as three of them, I don't recognize," the woman threw in sharply. "The one called Eden especially, given the skills we watched him use while defending the office."
Tseng gave a nod and said, "Kariya is actually a Turk on our roster who has been with us for about three years. He rarely comes to Midgar, hence the reason you don't recognize him. Eden had been helping us for about two months before being hired, and Vant has been helping us since he made contact with Eden, which is nearly as long. Circumstances are such that Veld felt it prudent to take them on to more efficiently assist in our investigations. Eden's skills are ones he has been honing for over six years, and is the only Turk with Materia knowledge we can efficiently use. To be perfectly clear on this, Eden is liked and trusted by everyone from Veld, to myself, to Rude and Freyra, to the General and Commanders." Everyone who had just been named gave emphatic nods of agreement.
"How do you know he's so trustworthy?" the scientist in the lab coat asked in a slimy-sounding voice.
"He gave me an Ultima Materia," Sephiroth said in a dry tone. Many pairs of eyes widened, from most of the Thirds and Seconds to the company leadership. "Without it, I would have been overwhelmed in Sector 3."
"He gave me Neo Bahamut, so I gave him Ifrit. Then, later, he gave me Phoenix, too," Genesis said dryly. "Phoenix proved very useful while holding off the enemy on the ground floor here. That's on top of saving my life and the lives of a lot of other people multiple times." Eyes widened more, but everyone facing the President's table saw how the man in the navy suit looked faintly amused, even while clearly surprised.
"I traveled with him," Rude forced out. "I trust him with my life. And with all of yours." His uncharacteristic number of words made several others in the room stare at him in amazement, even some of the ones on the President's side of the room.
"He took out the bandit outside Junon, Hell Rider," Freyra added. "And only took the reward money as an afterthought."
"I think we can say we've heard enough," the younger man in the navy suit said in a dry tone while the other department heads were clearly too stunned to speak. "What about the attack on the city? What was it, why did it happen, why now?"
"That is—the difficult part," Tseng began.
Genesis cut him off as he said, "It was a combined attack. Neither group involved would have done it alone, but together, they were willing to risk it, each for their own goals. One group were the eco-terrorists called AVALANCHE, the other were Wutain military forces. They chose now because so many of the city's defenders were away and arranged for the incidences in the Slums to draw what was left of the defenses away. They had multiple targets—each of the Reactors, and Shinra Headquarters. It wasn't as simple as the eco-terrorists after the Reactors or the Wutains after Headquarters, as both forces were after both targets."
"And how, pray tell, do you know that?" the scientist asked with a raised brow.
"The leaders of the eco-terrorists came here to assault the ground floor while Wutain troops climbed the building wall as well as the Wutains being amongst the forces after the Reactors," Tseng said. "In addition, even after the terrorists ran, the Wutain military forces continued the attack on Headquarters, and we found them continuing the attacks on the Reactors as well, hence the reason Eden and I had to leave to secure the Reactors earlier. Genesis and Vant faced AVALANCHE's leaders on the ground floor, and there was what happened at each Reactor."
"Some of the Reactors were secured early on and attacked again during the progression of the battle," Lazard added, speaking for the first time. "Leaving people to secure them had turned out to be the best move, despite the strain doing so put on the combatants attempting to force them out of the city and who later had to perform the final sweep to be sure we'd gotten them all."
"And how did they get into the city in such numbers to launch such an attack?" the President asked sharply. "Tseng..." The warning in his voice made it clear he thought the Wutain man somehow responsible for the situation, causing several people to bristle in his defense.
"We will be beginning an investigation into that first thing tomorrow morning, once we've all rested," Tseng replied evenly before anyone could say a word. "Currently, we have a vague suspicion that about half of them may have already been in the city—that would be AVALANCHE—and helped the others enter over several weeks, but we have nothing more concrete than that without a full-scale investigation."
"Fine, now, getting back to what we witnessed on the rooftop," the woman said, gaze going to Eden. "Eden of the Turks, where did that six-legged horse come from?" She shot Genesis a glare as he began snickering, then returned her gaze to the blond teen.
Eden blinked twice at her, then said, "Some Summoned beings are more than one 'entity'. Odin is both the man and the horse he rides, called Sleipnir. Since I didn't need the man, but needed his flight-capable mount, I called for the mount independently of Odin. Anyone holding his Materia shard could do the same, assuming they're aware they can. There's nothing at all mysterious, or even impressive, about it."
"How did you become aware you could do such a thing?" she asked sharply. "You clearly hadn't been aware of it before right then."
"He can see the arrays as well," Genesis threw in, which made several pairs of eyes blink, then brows to raise, and finally, understanding came to everyone in the room, but the woman was still looking at Eden.
"I had never seriously 'looked' at Odin's arrays before because I'd never needed to—the only time I used him was once in battle against a powerful monster," Eden answered. "But when your boss in the Turks tells you to figure out a way to fly, well—you do it. So, I started looking and realized there was more than one 'entity' array which weren't actually directly linked to one another, only indirectly linked. Because they were indirectly linked, the mount could be Summoned without Odin, though I don't think it can happen the other way—calling Odin will always call Sleipnir as well."
"Oh, how odd. You actually made sense to someone who knows nothing about Materia!" the man in the tan suit commented curiously.
Genesis and the scientist at the President's table both snorted as the blond teen raised a brow and said, "If I'm talking with Genesis, he's probably the only one who will understand me. In the meantime, what's the point in explaining something in technical terms to people who won't understand the technical terms? You're all 'laymen' when it comes to Materia, so I just adapt the way I explain things so a 'layman' will understand. It saves me time and all of us frustration."
"How thoughtful," the woman sneered. "I hope you don't do that with people you're talking with about your missions."
"If he does, it's to the people who actually need to know the information, not to the uninformed who don't need to," Tseng answered that time.
"Fine. No more Turks for awhile. This makes six in the last four months," Heidegger announced.
"We're not planning on taking any more any time soon, and Eden and Vant have skipped the Trainee phase and are Rookies at the very least—we need Veld to confirm their rank," the Wutain Turk answered. "We've seen enough of their abilities to know they don't need training, as they already know what they're doing."
"And that's not suspicious?" the scientist asked, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"If we based hiring our Turks and SOLDIERs on 'suspicious knowledge' or other such similar things, we wouldn't have any," Lazard put in, his tone dry. "I've never found a member of either unit to be completely normal, even before SOLDIER enhancements, and many come out of backgrounds which are, by nature, 'suspicious'. Rather than deterring us, it intrigues us and gives us a new skill to hone and take maximum advantage of. Also, for a Turk to skip the Trainee phase means more productivity much sooner, which is a boon for the Company, not an expense. Eden and Vant are two employees you're not first losing money on. Why question a gift horse?"
"Isn't there some sort of story about a gift horse statue being taken inside a city, but the enemy soldiers were hidden in it?" the man in the tan suit asked in puzzlement.
"If that's the case, you're accusing Sephiroth, Genesis, Angeal, and all of the Turks of being those hidden soldiers," the blond Director replied, brow raised.
A long silence fell after those words, then the man in the navy suit said, "I think I've heard everything I need and want to hear. I've also recorded the entire discussion, so we can reference it again later if need be. The only thing I would ask is that you send Veld to us as soon as he gets back so we can find out why he left in the first place. Unless there are further questions from anyone here?"
"No, no!" the man in the tan suit said.
"I believe we've established the important points, and Heidegger will be able to forward to you assignments to Wutai to resolve this situation," the President said. "It was a rather impressive show you boys gave us, and you've earned a day or two of rest before further deployment, save a couple of you. We're done here, then."
"There is one thing I'd like to say," Angeal said suddenly, making all eyes go to him. "Mister Heidegger, list Second Zack Fair as my new protegee and take his presence into account for any missions you send me on."
"Really? Awesome! Thanks a bunch, Commander!" the black haired sixteen-year-old grinned, fidgeting excitedly.
"Hmph! Fine. Get out of here, all of you," the man in the green suit said, waving them away.
They all began rising and heading for the exit, most of them dragging their feet in exhaustion—though Zack easily made up for their lack of energy by bouncing through the group several times on the walk back to the Turks' and SOLDIERs' floors. His behavior irritated some and amused others—but on the third time he looped around Eden, the other sixteen-year-old smacked him in the head with a hard, sharp jab which sent him sprawling on the floor in the middle of the hall. He blinked up at the ceiling a few times in stunned confusion before he saw a hand held out to him.
Since the hand was Angeal's, he took it and let the amused man pull him up, then fell in with the man as he asked, "What was that all about?"
"Eden and Tseng are so exhausted right now that a breeze could blow them over. I think you just hit Eden's last nerve, and he's short-tempered to start with. They've held up remarkably well, but you can tell if you pay attention that they just can't deal with you being your usual puppy-like self, Zack," Angeal explained. "If they weren't so tired, I think Eden would give you a run for your money, energy-wise."
"How did he get so tired?"
"He climbed the outside of the Shinra building from the first floor to the seventieth, and fought the enemy all the way up, then had another battle at the top," Genesis filled in, joining them. "I saw the mess Eden and Tseng left behind—what they took on alone was easily a match for what Sephiroth did in town, which was over seventy enemies all coming at once. And unlike Sephiroth, they had people—other people—to protect, because they were the last line of defense between the Shinra administrators—and everyone else in the building—and the attackers. On top of that, Sephiroth had several others to help him and backup on the way while Tseng and Eden had no one, so they were literally in a 'do-or-die' situation."
"Ooooh," Zack murmured, gaze impressed. "No wonder he could flatten me in one hit, even when he's so tired."
"It gets worse," Freyra said from a few steps ahead of the three as she looked back at them. "Tseng is the acting head of the Turks until Veld gets back, so he can't rest, and until Eden and Vant meet with Veld, neither of them can rest, either."
"Oh, ouch," the black haired teen winced slightly. "Maybe I should have just stayed at Headquarters so I could have helped out here and used up extra energy—because I haven't used nearly enough yet."
"How's your shoulder, by the way?" Angeal asked his new protegee, tapping the one he knew was injured.
Zack winced, but said, "It hurts, but my Cure spell fixed the worst of it and it's only bruised. By morning, the bruise should even be gone. I guess the pole that held me against the Reactor door fractured the bone, so the most I could do was fix the fracture."
"Makes sense," Genesis agreed. "Especially if your Restore is still only first level."
"Yeah, it is. I think it's fairly close to second, though," the black haired teen nodded.
"Okay, if you have so much excess energy, take a bunch of it and start pushing it into your Materia deliberately," the red haired man instructed.
"Why?" the boy blinked.
"You'll Master them much faster that way," Angeal filled in before his friend could say more. "The more energy you push into them, the sooner they'll be truly useful to you, and the more you'll be able to do. Your one short-coming in that is your lack of focus, so just maybe expending your energy by pushing it into Materia shards to Master them will use up a lot of that excess energy and help increase your focus. No matter what, you win."
"Ooooh..." Zack looked thoughtfully down at the Materia on his bracer, a Silver Armlet, which had a linked pair of slots and two independent ones. "Okay, I'll give it a try and see how things go. Thanks! You guys can all have a rest and I'll—should I go to your office tomorrow morning, Commander Hewley?"
"Actually, before you do that, you could go back to the lobby when the Turks remove the lockdown and grab our bags—they should all have names on them—and drop them off at the appropriate office to be collected in the morning. As for morning, eight o'clock. If I'm not there, try my apartment. And call me Angeal. I'm becoming your mentor, after all, not a commanding officer," the black haired man told him with a small smile.
"Okay, will do! Thanks, Com—Angeal!" the boy grinned, then ran ahead of everyone and down the stairs. Genesis, Angeal, and Freyra just shook their heads in amused amazement.
"Well, now he'll have to wait for the lockdown release by himself," Freyra chuckled.
"Are you sure he's worth taking on?" Genesis asked his best friend dryly.
"He's got a surprisingly good head on his shoulders, attention span of a puppy or not. What he needs to balance his skill and mind is focus. No one other than me would have the patience to teach him that, because honestly—it'll take awhile," Angeal admitted. "I think he can make it, but only if he can gain that focus, energy aside."
"Go for it, then," Genesis grinned.
Not long after, the group parted ways, most of them to rest, but four Turks chose other paths. One headed downstairs as he called, "I'll release the lockdown, let everyone know they can leave or get back to business, and make sure the kids are signed in!" That was Kariya, which caused amusement from several people as they realized Anthony was going to get the general Turks' mark the Academy used from a Turk who had no personal relation to him at all—which was all to the good.
The other three Turks headed to the Turks' offices. Tseng led Eden and Vant first to his office and into the command center so all three could retrieve their bags, then to Veld's office, where he let them all inside and sat in the seat Veld usually used. Eden collapsed into one of the chairs across the desk from him and Vant, who was in somewhat better shape than them (of course, he was undead), began examining the books on the shelves across one wall of the office.
"Sorry about this, Eden, but until Veld comes back—" the Wutain began.
"We're stuck waiting here," the blond finished, eyes closed as he leaned his head back against the chair back. "I know. It's fine. Wouldn't be the first time."
Leaning back against his own claimed seat, the man sighed and shook his head. "I wish I could leave, myself, you know." His eyes opened and went to the PHS sitting on the desk—which had a flashing light on it, making him blink, reach over, and pick it up to check the message it had. After a silence, he gave a heart-felt sigh and said, "Here," as he passed it to Eden.
Eden read the text message out loud, "'Sorry about dropping leadership on you, Tseng, but we've come across an emergency. I should be back by six this evening, so I leave you in command until then.'" The teen paused and looked at the time—then sighed and asked plaintively, "Three hours?"
"You could always read. It looks like most of Veld's books and papers are on Company regulation, which you need to know as a Turk," Vincent said dryly, pulling a couple off the shelf in front of him and walking over to Eden to hand them to the teen—who groaned, but took them.
"Fine, fine," the sixteen-year-old sighed as he opened the first and started reading tiredly, even as both Tseng and Vant smiled.
"How have you been holding up, Vant?" the Wutain asked.
"Fine," he said. "I felt very little strain from battle, though I must have 'felt' some as I began slowing down marginally towards the end. Also, it looks like Hojo didn't look twice at me."
"Good. That means it worked and Mirage held, even with how tired I got," Eden commented. "Which means it held for Anthony, too. In the President's office, who was who, from right to left facing them?"
"The one at the model desk was Palmer," Tseng said. "Beside him was Reeve, then Scarlet, the President, Heidegger, and Hojo."
"That woman is probably the creepiest one I've met, and I've met some pretty creepy women," the blond sighed. "Reeve's behavior makes a lot more sense now, though. I mean, since he's in on all our plans to some degree, anyway."
Tseng chuckled, then they all fell silent. Eden kept reading the books he'd been handed, and after awhile, Vant also chose one, while Tseng monitored the various phones in the office. A call came in and he gave some quick instructions to the Turk on the other end, but otherwise, the only event of note was how the Wutain man saw Eden apparently regaining some of his energy while he read, becoming more alert and intent.
Finally, the door was shoved open unceremoniously, making all of them look at it, to see an emotionless, brown haired man with a couple scars on his face standing there. His gaze traveled the room, where he saw Tseng and Eden—then stopped on Vant. He let the door close behind him as his expressionless face began showing faint shock and hope.
"Vincent?" he asked of the black haired man.
Vant returned his gaze and said evenly, "Verdot."
The two younger Turks pretended not to see the men share a hug.
