BOOK ONE: MIDGAR

NINE

"Hey, Jess," I said, steppin' off the elevator and inside the basement. "Someone's outside askin' for ya."

She looked up at me from where she was workin' on her computer, an' her face brightened up right away. Hopin' it was Cloud, I knew. An' I wished I coulda told her it was, both to know he was okay an' to help lift Jessie's spirits. She'd been down ever since the carriage had come an' picked Tifa up to take her to that goddamn Corneo's place over in Wall Market. No, she'd been that way longer than that, I realized. Ever since Tifa and I had come back from Reactor 5 without Cloud.

After Tifa had left, Jessie had wanted to go look for him right away, but I wouldn't have it. We had enough heat on us already, an' we didn't need no more. I knew the Shinra would find out about us escapin' their little trap sooner or later, so we jus' had to stay low an' outta sight for a while 'til they lost interest an' moved on.

I knew that Jess was in love with him—she'd told me herself when I stopped her from goin' after him—but wanderin' all 'round the slums askin' about Cloud was sure to get attention, an' I didn't want that right now. What we did need was to find out if the Shinra knew yet that we'd escaped an' what they was gonna do next. So I'd had Jessie come down here earlier an' hack her way into the Shinra mainframe to get us some answers. We hadn't found nothin' yet, though.

"Is it Cloud?" she asked, hope in her eyes.

I sighed an' shook my head. "No, Jess. Sorry 'bout that. Some older guy. Said he came down here from the plate to see ya."

Jessie looked as stumped as I felt as we headed back upstairs. Biggs an' Wedge had been tendin' the bar since Tifa had left, an' Marlene was stickin' right close to me for now. I held her hand as we walked outside to meet the stranger. As soon as Jessie saw him, her eyes narrowed an' she folded her arms across her chest. So she knew him, but how? She'd never said very much about her life on the plate, but I hadn't asked her, either. Figured it was her business an' had left it at that.

"What do you want?" she said.

The guy scowled at us beneath that huge, bushy black beard of his. It hung down his chest over that dark green military uniform he wore. He was carryin' a bit of extra weight in that gut of his, but his gray eyes didn't have a bit of warmth in 'em. An' then I saw somethin' on his lapel that both made my blood boil right up and scared me shitless all at the same goddamn time.

It was a pin with the Shinra logo engraved on it.

What the hell was one of them goddamn Shinra killers doin' down here? An' how did Jess know him? My head spun tryin' to figure it out. Only thing I knew for sure was that when this bastard was gone, Jessie was gonna have a lot of explainin' to do. An' I doubted I was gonna like whatever she had to tell me. I understood now why she'd held this back from me, but damn, I still wished she'd have said somethin'.

"Get back home, Jessica," the man barked. "You don't belong down here with these sewer rats!"

"I am home. And I'm not leaving."

As proud of Jess as I was at that moment, I wondered what the guy had meant by goin' back home. And what was he really down here for? I glared darkly at him. "That why you came all the way down here? Jus' to stand here an' bother her?"

"A fool like you wouldn't understand," he barked.

"So why are you here?" Jessie demanded. "I doubt it was just to see me. You had to know what I would say."

The guy laughed like a drunk horse. "I had business to attend to in this area and was just making sure everything was in order. And that's all any of you wretched scum need to know!"

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Oh, you'll see, but by the time you do, it'll be too late for you to do anything about it! Jessica, for the last time, if you know what's good for you, get out of this stinking cesspit and go home! Now!"

"Why?" she said, her eyes blazin'. "What's going to happen here?"

The guy did seem awfully agitated, an' I wondered the same thing. He wasn't tellin' us everything, that was damn obvious. So them Shinra did have somethin' in the works. But what was it? I thought 'bout tryin' to force some answers outta him like I'd done with Scotch, but decided against it. This guy was a high-level Shinra suit, there wasn't any doubt about it. Roughin' him up like that would surely bring us jus' the kinda heat I'd been tryin' to avoid, an' I didn't want that.

The guy jus' huffed an' kicked the dirt. "I ain't sayin'! There ain't no stoppin' it, either."

"Stoppin' what?" I growled.

"I've already said too much!" he snarled, then looked back at Jessie. "Are you leaving or not? Last chance!"

She shook her head. "I'm staying here. Now get out."

"Fine! Then you'll get just what you deserve! Miserable girl! I don't know why I bothered! It'll be happening soon, and when it does, you'll wish you'd listened to me!"

Before either of us could say anythin' else, the guy left, stompin' off outta the slums an' back toward the train station. Jess watched him go, almost shakin' with rage. For a moment it looked like she was gonna go after him, but she jus' stood there, mad as a hornet 'til Marlene let go of my hand an' took hers instead.

When she did, Jess finally relaxed and managed to give her a small smile, but she didn't look at me yet. I didn't blame her, but I was plenty pissed, an' she damn well knew it. I looked at her, not sure I knew who she was anymore. An' that hurt more than anythin' else.

"So who the hell was that?" I asked.

She sighed, still lookin' away. "That… was my father."

— I haven't slept in a bed like this in a long time. —

It was that voice again. The strangely familiar voice of a young boy. I was asleep, not quite dreaming yet but just hovering there in the dark. I found that the voice was right, as before. Although I still didn't know who it was, I felt like I could trust it. It didn't seem like it meant me any harm. It was more as though it was trying to help me, but how or why, I didn't know. I was more tired and worn out than I had thought, and it was all I could do to keep any kind of awareness here.

Oh, yeah. That's right.

— Ever since then. —

And then I was dreaming. Or was it just a memory? Or a dream of a memory, to be more accurate. In it, I was a teenager, older than when I had made my promise to Tifa. I was lying in a bed. My bed, I realized. In my house at Nibelheim. My mother was hovering near me, as blond as I was in her orange dress and white apron. She was smiling, looking me over she stood there. I remembered I hadn't been happy to be there with her fretting over me like she always did.

"My, how you've grown," she marveled, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I bet the girls never leave you alone."

"Not really," I sighed.

She went on, her lips pursed. "I'm worried about you. There are a lot of temptations in the city. I'd feel a lot better if you just settled down with a nice girlfriend."

I rolled over on my side, not wanting to talk about it. "I'm alright."

"You should have… an older girlfriend, one that'll take care of you. I think that would be the best kind of girl for you."

"I'm not interested," I told her.

Why had I been so down that day? I couldn't remember. Only that it hadn't been a good visit. As the dream that was a memory dissipated and the darkness returned, I realized the voice had gone silent again. I wasn't surprised. But why had it showed me that memory? What was it trying to tell me? I didn't think it had anything to do with girls despite what the memory had shown me. But before long, my awareness began to fade, and my thoughts scattered as sleep claimed me again.

I turned to Jess. "Your father? You don't look much like him."

"And I'm very glad about that, believe me," she sighed. "I take after my mother. I look a lot like her, actually."

Well, I supposed that did explain it. I'd known from what she'd told me before that her dad was some sorta corporate exec, but nothin' like this. Jess hadn't been lyin', that was true enough, but she hadn't told me everythin' either. Not by half, I was guessin'. As we went back inside the bar, I tried to keep my anger under control, but it jus' wasn't happenin'. Soon as we got back inside, I had Biggs an' Wedge clear out the crowd, an' when it was jus' Marlene an' the four of us left, I whirled on Jess, my eyes narrowin' as I frowned at her.

"Awright, girl! Time to 'fess up! You know damn well jus' how I feel about them Shinra bastards, and now I find out you not only know one of 'em, you're his goddamn daughter! An' not jus' any suit, either, I bet. He's one of their top brass, ain't he?"

She started tremblin' as she spoke. "Barret, I…"

"So what the hell's goin' on here, Jessie!? I never bothered you 'bout your past before, figured you had your reasons to keep it all quiet. But I think I got a right to know now. Jus' how far does it go, Jessie? You best start talkin' right quick or you can jus' head on outta here an' not come back! I don't need anyone here I can't trust. An' right now, I ain't sure I can trust you no more!"

No sooner had those damn fool words of mine left my mouth than Jessie choked back a sob an' ran for the elevator. She rode it on down to the basement while Biggs an' Wedge jus' watched the whole thing, both of 'em starin' and at a loss for words. Me, I was still mad, but I was also kickin' myself for lashin' out at her the way I had. Why the friggin' hell didn't I ever think before I said stupid shit like that? She'd never done a damn thing to hurt us an' was always tryin' to look out for everyone an' fight the Shinra jus' like we were. I'd jus' never realized how personal it was for her, though. 'Til now, anyway.

With a sigh, I rode the elevator on down to the basement after her. I found Jessie sittin' over at her desk, cryin' with her head buried in her arms in front of her. Damn. Now look at what I done. What the hell was I thinkin'? She looked up as I went to her, tears slidin' down her face an' her brown eyes all red an' puffy. I tell ya, I felt about an inch tall at that moment. I glanced down at the floor, knowin' damn well that if Myrna had still been around then, I'd have gotten an' earful from her. And that woman had known how to fill an ear, believe me. She'd had a talent for it. My wife was a helluva woman, but she didn't put up with no bullshit, neither. Damn, but I still miss her.

I looked back up at Jessie an' put my good hand upon her shoulder. "Come here, girl."

She did, trembin' a little with each step, an' I wrapped her in a tight hug. I still didn't know what she was gonna tell me, but I didn't want it to get in the way of us bein' friends. An' family, too. The four of us had always been real tight like that, an' I wasn't gonna let nothin' change it. It didn't matter to me no more what Jessie's ties to Shinra were. She was AVALANCHE now, an' that was all I cared about. Whatever she had to say, I wasn't gonna take my anger out on her anymore.

"Sorry for bitin' your head off back there, Jess," I apologized. "It… it was wrong of me to treat ya like that."

She hugged me again, but there was still sadness in her voice when she spoke. "Thank you, Barret. I never… I never wanted to hurt you or the others. I just… I just didn't want to put you all in danger. And I… I was afraid you'd hate me…"

"I don't hate ya, Jess. None of us do."

"But you don't know everything. Not yet. So… you still might."

I shook my head, lookin' her right in the eye. "No. I don't care what it is. We gonna handle it together, you got that?"

More tears slid from her eyes, then, but these ones was happier, an' Jessie smiled a little as she finally let go of me. Wipin' her eyes an' nose, she followed me upstairs, an' I motioned for Biggs an' Wedge to join us as we sat down at one of the nearby tables.

For a moment, I didn't say nothin' and neither did anyone else. We jus' looked at each other for a moment, then at Jessie. She took a breath to compose herself, rubbed her eyes again, an' looked at me, her brown irises still scared.

I took her hand an' nodded. "Go ahead, Jess. Let's hear it."

When I finally woke up, the house was utterly quiet. Maybe Aerith was asleep after all. I sat up, stretched for a minute or two, then looked around. Buster was still leaning against the wall where I'd left it earlier, but next to it on the floor lay a small box. I got up and went to check it out. Inside it was a potion and a small pouch of phoenix down. Elmyra must have left them here for me while I was asleep. Taking the items, I slung Buster over my shoulder and crept out the door.

Taking care not to walk too quickly on the wood floor, I snuck past Aerith's room, and it wasn't until I had headed downstairs and stepped through the front door that I finally relaxed a little and started walking more normally. I was about to head back in between the mountains of junk toward the rest of the slums when a sparkle somewhere off to my left suddenly caught my eye. I realized it was coming from the garden, and so I turned and headed over to check it out.

Crossing over to the round platforms of Aerith's backyard garden, I moved amongst the flowers until I spotted something lying amidst the greenery. It was a materia orb, its deep purple glow shining brightly in the gloom. I picked it up, trying to figure out just what kind it was, and after examining it for a minute or two, I saw it was Cover. It takes some practice, but you can eventually figure out what kind of materia an orb is by concentrating on it and the spiritual power inside of it. The one I had just found, Cover, grants you a boost of speed in critical moments so you can sometimes intercept attacks against your allies.

That would surely be useful, especially if by some chance I ran into Aerith again. I was still her bodyguard, after all. And I'd use anything I could find to protect her. I fit my new materia orb into one of the slots embedded into my wrist guards, and when it was firmly in place, I left the garden and headed down the path away from Aerith's house.

I passed through the slum village, which was quiet now at this time of night, and walked until the path dead-ended in a two-way split. The left branch led back to the church, so I figured the right side must lead to Sector 7. Glancing around to see that I was alone, I turned right and started heading down the dirt path, my eyes watching the shadows for anyone or anything that might crawl out and attack. But nothing did. I had only gone a few steps, though, when I suddenly staggered to a halt, my eyes widening in shock as I stared in disbelief.

Aerith stood there waiting for me, her staff ready in her hands and a smirk on her face.

"You're up bright and early," she teased.

I groaned, wondering just how the hell she had outsmarted me and swearing not to underestimate her ever again. "How could I ask you to come along knowing it would be dangerous?"

"Are you done?" she raised an eyebrow, annoyed now.

"I just…"

I cut myself off, however, as soon as I saw two thugs melting out of the shadows on either side of Aerith, dirty masks and bandanas hiding their faces and sharp, wicked knives grasped in their hands. Instantly I reached for Buster, but she was faster. Before either of the goons could even make a move, she slammed the butt end of her staff right into the gut of the one on her left, then whipped it back around and caught the other one right across the face. As I gaped at her, my jaw hanging open as if it had become completely unhinged, Aerith spun around, brought up her arm, and with a quick flash of green light from her wrist, called forth a small blizzard that enveloped her two assailants in icy cold and sent them staggering backwards.

And she still wasn't done.

Expertly twirling her staff, Aerith sent it flying between one of the thugs' legs to crush his crotch, then while he howled in pain and fell to his knees, she reversed the staff's momentum with a flick of her wrist and slammed it backhanded into the side of the other goon's head. He dropped to the ground like a rock, out cold, while the first one hobbled away as Aerith unleashed another blast of cold that left him little more than a frigid, bloodied mess as he limped off into the gloom. He cast a panicked glance at her over his shoulder and was gone.

When it was over, Aerith looked back at me, smiling sweetly. "You were saying?"

"Ah, nevermind…" I sighed, giving up.

She laughed. "I told you, I can take care of myself."

"No kidding," I shook my head hopelessly, still stunned at what I'd just seen. "Tell me again why you need a bodyguard. You could be one yourself, the way you fight."

"Thanks, Cloud! Maybe I can be your bodyguard sometime. What do you think?"

I grinned. "Maybe you can. You could put me out of a job."

"Oh, I'd never do that," she chuckled. "But I would always keep you safe and sound, I promise."

I didn't doubt it. I laughed with her, amused at how thoroughly she had fooled me and utterly surprised at how quickly and completely she had decimated those two unlucky goons. And she had enjoyed all of it immensely, I knew. I wasn't so worried about her safety now. Her little display had seen to that. I decided it couldn't hurt to let her come with me as far as the gate to Sector 7. She deserved that much, had earned it after what she had just done here. And I was sure Aerith knew it every bit as well as I did.

I nodded. "You ready?"

"Yeah. And Cloud… we can protect each other, you know?"

"Right," I agreed. "We can."

Aerith smiled as she approached the opening in the wall. "We have to go through the slums in Sector 6 to get to Sector 7. There's a gate not far from here. I'll take you there. Come on!"

Before I could say anything else, she ran off, disappearing through the gap. I shook my head hopelessly and wondered how I was going to keep up with her. I figured she wouldn't go far, but knowing her now as I did, I found I wasn't as certain about that as I would have been before watching her trounce those two thieves without even breaking a sweat. In any case, I decided to keep a much closer eye on her. She seemed to like trouble just as much as Jessie, if not more. This was going to be an interesting experience, to say the least.

With a resigned sigh, I followed Aerith into Sector 6.

"That man, my father… his name's Heidegger, and he's the head of Shinra's Peace Preservation Division."

For a moment, that was all Jess said, an' we all jus' sat there, starin' at her like we'd been hit with a brick between the eyes. I knew that guy had to have been high up the chain, but not that high. I'd heard of him though, now that I thought about it. He led Shinra's military an' was in charge of them Turks that did Shinra's dirty work. He answered only to President Shinra himself, so he was also one of the most powerful men in the city. High up the chain, indeed.

I nodded to Jess, tryin' my best to encourage her. I'd never seen her so scared, though. "Go on, Jess. It's okay."

She swallowed, let out a deep breath, and went on. "I told you that I was a computer tech when I lived on the plate, and that's true enough. I just never said what company I worked for. It… it was Shinra, Barret. I was there for almost five years, ever since I was sixteen. I was only an assistant then, but by the time I finally left that place, I was in charge of their Systems Operation Division. I developed and maintained all their computer systems and their internal network."

"That's where I learned a lot of what I know about computers, and it's also why I can hack into it so well. When I took over the division, I completely redesigned that system to make it much more efficient, but doing that also allowed me to find out where all the weak spots were. I still know. And even though I've been gone for a year now, they haven't changed much. Bureaucracy, you know? So I've always used that to my advantage to get us whatever information I can. It's also how I was able to find the reactor plans and everything else we needed."

"But… that wasn't all I did at Shinra," she sighed, tremblin'. "I only wish that it was…"

I squeezed her hand gently. "What else did ya do there?"

"Weapons design," Jessie breathed, not lookin' at us now. "That was my second job. I worked for Scarlet, who was the head of the Weapons Development Division. Most of the guns, bombs, and weapons Shinra's been using over the past few years to… hurt and kill people with, I… I created them… and sometimes I… I tested them."

"I was told it was just theoretical research and for fighting against monsters, but I think I knew, deep down, that it wasn't. I just… I didn't want to believe it. Not until I read the reports of Shinra soldiers killing people with… with the weapons I had created. They… they used them to put down peaceful protests, destroyed whole villages for refusing to allow them to build more reactors, and… so much more."

"I mentioned yesterday that the bomb for Reactor 1 was my first, and I suppose, in way, that's true. It was the first one that I had ever put together myself. But not the first I had ever designed. So I still… I still feel like I lied to you all. About who I really was, about everything, and I… I'm so sorry…"

Tears spilled from her eyes again, an' for a moment she couldn't go on. That anger in me started risin' up on hearin' all of what she did, but I stuffed it down. She might've made the weapons, but she hadn't been the one decidin' how they was gonna be used. I knew that she was still blamin' herself for it, though. Jess had always been too hard on herself, but now I was startin' to understand why. I jus' hoped tellin' us 'bout it would help her somehow.

"It ain't your fault, Jessie," I told her. Biggs an' Wedge both nodded their agreement as I kept goin'. "You didn't choose what they was gonna be used for. The Shinra did that. So don't be beatin' yourself up about it no more, you hear?"

"But if it wasn't for me…" she started.

I shook my head. "It don't matter who made 'em. Shinra would've done the same damn thing."

She stared at me for a minute, then let out a long sigh. "I… I guess you're right. It's just… I've been carrying this guilt around for so long. I was afraid if you all knew who and what I was, you'd hate me…"

"Well, that ain't happenin', Jess. We a family, you hear?"

"Damn straight!" Biggs grinned.

Wedge put an arm around her shoulder. "We're all with you, Jessie. You don't have to worry."

"You guys…" she smiled, blinkin' away more tears as she looked at us. I knew how hard it must've been for her to tell us what she had, an' I was proud of my boys for standin' behind her like that. Whatever was comin', we'd face it together. Wasn't no doubt about it. I jus' wished that Tifa, an' hell even Cloud, was here, too.

I gave her hand another squeeze. "Tell us the rest, now."

Jessie nodded, took a minute to compose herself, an' continued. "I also told you my mom died in a train crash. That big accident in Sector 6 last year, remember? They're still rebuilding from it, over by the old highway, and it's a wreck. But what I didn't say, and what I didn't know when it happened, was that it wasn't an accident at all."

"What do ya mean?" I asked.

"Shinra blamed it on you guys, on AVALANCHE. I'm sure you saw it in the news. And back then, I believed it was true, at least at first. I… I hated you guys. I was so devastated at losing my mom and wanted to hurt you as much as I possibly could. My father, he encouraged that, of course. It was one of the only things we could still talk about anymore. I had adored him when I was a little girl, before I grew older and came to understand what he really was. He's a monster, Barret. And he's also very, very dangerous."

"My mom was absolutely terrified of him, of his utter ruthlessness and his complete disregard for anyone besides himself. For the longest time, I resented her for not leaving him, for staying, but that was before I really understood how scared she was. Barret, do you remember that accident in Reactor 3, not long before the train wreck?"

I nodded. That had been big news. "Yeah. A few of them goddamn security mechs malfunctioned an' killed a whole bunch of maintenance workers there during a protest they'd made about the conditions in the place. Shinra and their friggin' machines…"

"Right. Only, it wasn't an accident, either. My father saw to that. He set the whole thing up. The roboguards have two different modes, you see. Normally, when people are working, the mechs are kept in standby mode, where they only attack if they or the workers are threatened. But my father, he had secretly ordered a few of them to be switched over to battle mode, where they'll shoot and kill anything in range, without the workers knowing about it."

"My mom found out the truth, though, and it gave her the courage and leverage that she needed to finally leave him. She had other secrets of his that she'd learned, but this was the biggest. I think she was either going to expose him or blackmail him somehow into letting her go, but I never found out. And she was never able to go through with it, either, because she died in that train accident. It was blamed on all of you, but the more I looked into it, the more I doubted it was true."

"I decided to hack into my father's computer and see what I could find. And that's when I discovered the messages that held a lot of what I just told you. They also contained his orders to the Turks to sabotage the train. He… he killed my mother, Barret. And so many others. Just to keep his secrets from getting out. After that, I knew that I had to get as far away from him as I could. He would find out what I knew sooner or later, and then… and then he'd come after me next."

I shook my head, my rage now at Shinra, as it should've been. And at that rat bastard Heidegger. He was gonna have helluva lot to answer for, that was for goddamn sure. Now I understood why Jessie had been so worried about puttin' us all in danger, an' I didn't blame her for bein' scared. She had damn good reason to be, but I wasn't gonna let nothin' happen to her. Jessie was part of the family, and there wasn't no way I'd let Shinra get their friggin' hands on her.

"We ain't lettin' him touch ya, Jess. You got that?"

She smiled at us. "Thanks, everyone. It… it means so much to me. I've just been so afraid of him and what he might do, and I felt so alone even though I was here with you all."

Wedge smiled right back at her. "You're not alone, Jess. We're right here with you."

"You got that right!" Biggs added, punchin' the air with his fist. "So how did you get outta there?"

"I wasn't sure who to trust anymore. But I knew what I'd found out couldn't be allowed to die with my mother. And… and with me, if my father ever caught up to me. I know how you feel about Shinra, Barret, but not everyone there is like him. There are good people in there, too. They're either trapped in that terrible place like I was, trying to change things from within, or both. There was one man in particular who was a friend of my mother's. I only met him a few times, but he was always kind to me. He was one of Shinra's top executives, and he was the only one I ever saw who really cared about other people."

"Not long after I had discovered the truth about the train accident and my mom's death, I decided to confide in him. I gave him copies of everything I'd found, and he took me down to the slums himself while my father was busy elsewhere. I hadn't felt comfortable taking a train at the time, considering the circumstances, and Reeve had felt exactly the same way. He didn't stay long, though. He told me that being seen with him might draw too much attention, and he wanted to be sure that my father wouldn't find out where I was. I… I never got a chance to thank him before he left. I wish I could, though."

I sat back in my chair. "So that's your story, then."

"Yeah. And I met you all not long after that. When your computer crashed that day and you didn't have any idea how to fix it, remember? And that job led to me being here."

"I remember," I said, an' we all laughed. "I was 'bout ready to shoot the damn thing by the time you showed up."

Wedge scratched his chin as if somethin' was botherin' him. "How did your dad know you were here tonight, though, Jess? How could he have found out?"

"I don't know," she shook her head. "But don't call him that."

"Why not?"

Her gaze was hard as stone when she answered. "A dad is someone who's there for you and cares about you, who loves you no matter what and looks out for you. My father was never like that. That's why I don't call him dad. Because he's not and never was."

Wedge nodded. "I think I understand."

"You know, Barret," Jess said, smilin' at me. "You really showed me what a dad is, with how much you love Marlene and are always there to take care of her and keep her safe. I never knew what that was like until I came here and met you."

My grin was so wide it must've reached my ears. "Damn, girl! You tryin' to make me blush? But, um, well… thanks. I know I don't always do the best job of it, but I love her jus' the same. An' I'm glad I was able to show you that."

Wedge looked at her. "So why else was your father here, Jess?"

"He said he had business to attend to. But what in the slums could there be that would interest him?"

"Maybe not this place, but something nearby?" Biggs wondered.

At first I didn't have a clue. But then it hit me like a sledgehammer to the face, and my blood turned to ice as I understood what was really goin' on. Biggs an' Wedge hadn't gotten it yet, but Jessie sure as hell did, her eyes widenin' jus' the same as mine were as it suddenly sank in an' we saw the terrible truth. We both shot to our feet, speakin' at the same time in the same breathless, horrified gasp.

"The pillar!"