When the Doctor explained that the area they were exploring was known as the Sector 7 Slums, Yaz wasn't sure what to expect. The North of England had some deprived areas and in the line of duty, she had been to some run down areas of her city. Even watching the news, the word slums conjured up images of abject poverty, disease and misery.
It was a small surprise then to see businesses thriving in the slum, general stores and roadside vans selling street food dotted the path towards the centre of the town. Unsurprisingly, the weapon shop seemed to be popular this time of day, the Doctor swiftly pulled Yaz passed without offering a second glance. The people, whilst clearly living at the bottom of societies ladder, had a sense of community around them, something which Yaz felt her hometown lacked sometimes.
It wasn't all good though, a quick glance down the side alleys revealed the darker side of the area. Two shifty looking characters huddled in one alley were clearly conducting an illicit deal, most likely drug related. The officer inside wanted to march over and investigate but this wasn't her town or even her planet. A swift shake of the head from the Doctor make her move along and reluctantly, she did.
After walking in silence for a few minutes, the Doctor spoke up, "You can't save everyone Yaz,", she began, "as much as I disapprove personally, you have to let people make their own mistakes."
"But I'm a police officer," Yaz replied, "this is the kind of thing I suppose to stop."
The Time Lord stopped, "Not our here you're not", the Doctor sighed, "tell me, if you went down there and tried to arrest them with no backup and nothing to protect yourself, what would've happened?"
Yaz didn't respond but she knew the answer, she would most likely get herself injured or worse. "How do you do it then Doctor?" she asked, "how can you see something like that and just walk by?"
The Doctor paused and chuckled dryly, "I used to have your optimism Yaz but that was a long time ago". She shook her head, "This is a lawless place, even if you told local security, do you think they'd give them a slap on the wrist?" Again, Yaz was silent, she had seen plenty of armed troopers during their walk through the slums, "No one would notice a few missing drug dealers around here," the Time Lord added grimly.
"But you save people all the time," Yaz said, "how do you know who's worth helping?"
"Experience," the Doctor simply replied, "when you know, you'll just know." The Doctor stopped, something had caught her eye, "Hello, what do we have here?" She crouched down and pushed aside some scrap metal to reveal a glowing green orb, roughly the size of a tennis ball, "Absolutely gorgeous", the Doctor grinned, "someone was careless to leave you laying around."
The Doctor stood up and pressed the orb into Yaz's hand, it felt cool to the touch but something about the orb felt powerful, alive even, "Materia, something only found on this planet," the Doctor continued, "a gift from the planet, lets the owner harness the power of the elements, if they're lucky."
Yaz stared into the orb, mesmerized by the swirling green cloud inside, "How?" she asked, "some kind of magic?"
The Doctor chuckled, "As much as I hate the word magic, yeah, that's probably the simplest explanation". The Time Lord looked closer, "Restore materia if I'm not mistaken, that will make heal the basic cuts, scraps and bruises, pretty useful if you ask me." The Doctor held up her hand, halting Yaz's next question, "You need a strong will to use materia Yaz, you need focus and desire to use the power contained inside."
"So, useless to me then," Yaz sighed, "I'm not of this world after all."
"Keep it anyway," the Doctor began, "would be a shame to see it go to waste." Yaz shrugged and put the orb into her pocket for safekeeping.
Pushing on into the town, the road eventually widened until they found the largest building they'd seen in the Sector so far, "Seventh Heaven," Yaz read the sign above the establishment, "after seeing that carriage earliest I'm not sure I'd want to go inside, sounds a little dodgy."
The Doctor though wasn't put off and slowly approached the wooden steps, "Looks like a pub to me," the Doctor smiled, "always the best place to get the local gossip." Before Yaz could stop her, the Time Lord and pushed the heavy doors to Seventh Heaven and stepped inside.
Yaz wasn't sure what to expect from a slum bar but this place was better than she expected. Several large wooden benches complete with small stools filled the space. There was a jukebox, pinball machine and even a dartboard in one corner of the bar. If Yaz didn't know any better, she could've been in England.
The place wasn't busy that night, three of the occupants wore red bandana's, perhaps the uniform of this establishment. Behind the bar was a woman with reddish brown hair, held back in a high ponytail. Besides the red headband, the rest of her outfit was highly unusual, knee length combat trousers, a tight blue top that went all the way to up her neck, black elbow length glove and most unusually, a steel breastplate. Maybe breastplates were the fashion on the planet Yaz though to herself. On one table were two men, a larger man in a beige top, the other wore a green top and had dark hair. A few bottles of beer littered the table between them.
The other occupant was possibly the largest man Yaz had ever seen. Dark skin, closely cropped hair and tattoos covering one arm. She had to double take when looking at his other arm, below the elbow there was a machine gun where his arm should have been. Shielded behind his gun arm was a young girl, no other than five or six. This man gave the women a hard glare as they entered the bar.
The Doctor though was oblivious to everyone and bounced down into a bar stool, "Evening everyone," she began with a grin, "been a while since I was in a pub, not really much of a drinker this time around." The woman behind the bar wasn't sure what to make of the Doctor, her bemusement written all over her face, "What would you recommend barkeep?" the Time Lord asked.
"Look, we're not really open right now," the woman began, "our regular bartender is off for the night."
"Aww too bad," the Doctor reached into her pocket before pulling out a large gold coin, "I was finally looking to spend this tonight." She put her hands on the bar and went to stand up, "I'll try somewhere else then."
"Wait," the bartender shout, "can I see that?" The Doctor shrugged and handed over the coin. The breast plate wearing woman eyed the coin suspiciously before trying to bite into it. Her eyes widened, Yaz realised it must be solid gold, "You know what, I'm sure I can rustle something together," she beamed cheerfully.
"Whatever you make, can it have a small paper umbrella?" the Doctor asked, "and maybe a curly straw?"
The bartender laughed, "Clearly you're not from the slums," she began, "tell me, is this the only gold coin you're carrying."
"Depends, are you looking for a tip or thinking of robbing me?" the Doctor asked glibly. Yaz merely rubbed her face in exasperation before taking a seat next to the Time Lord.
The bartender laughed, "Not sure if you're joking or just insane," the broad grin on the Doctor's face wasn't helping, "the name's Jessie by the way, never seen you two big spenders around here before?"
"Oh we're new in town", Yaz answered for the Time Lord, "just arrived from up North, I'm Yaz and this is the Doctor."
"Just the Doctor?" Jessie asked, drawing a nod from the Time Lord, "what are you, some kind of secret agent?" The Time Lord merely shrugged, "All sorts arrive in the slums but I think you're the first two to arrive from Icicle Inn. This place gets classer by the day, right boys," the three other men in the bar offered a non-committal grunt in reply.
Yaz watched on as Jessie finished mixing the drink, a lime green concoction that the substitute bartender called a Mideel, dropped in a couple of ice cubes and placed a small umbrella as per the Doctor's request, "Sorry, we're all out of straws," Jessie apologised, sliding the glass down the bar.
The Time Lord caught the drink one hand and pushed the umbrella to one side. She gave the drink a sniff before taking a taking a small sip. Her eyes widened and she let out a small cough, "Wow, that's strong but also refreshing", the Doctor said, "reminds me of the Old West."
"Glad you like it," Jessie smiled, "you should come back when Tifa's around, her version is much better." Yaz guessed that Tifa must be the regular bartender, "So, what brings you ladies to Midgar?"
"Oh, just visiting," the Doctor shrugged, "seeing the sights, taking in the local culture", the Time Lord took another sip of her drink, "trying to regain some feeling in my taste buds," she added with a sour expression.
"Visiting the slums after dark," Jessie frowned, "not the best place to start your travels." Yaz caught Jessie cast a small look over their shoulders to the others in the bar. Out the corner of her eye she could see the larger of the two men edge his way closer to the door. She tensed and began looking for any other exits but could only spot one behind the bar that could lead anywhere, "Are you two looking for work whilst you're in town?" Jessie probed, "There's plenty to do in town if you have the right connections."
Yaz spotted the beginning of an interrogation, it was a basic questioning technique she learned in Policing College. Her instincts told her that everyone in the bar was involved in something, most likely illegal and they had stumbled in at the wrong time. She was about to tell the Doctor to drink up and leave but it was about to be too late, "Oh I haven't worked in a very long time", the Doctor began, "used to be scientific adviser for the Government, until the entire operation was closed down."
"Doctor," Yaz hissed, feeling the tension in the room step up a notch, "probably the worst thing you could say."
"Oh and Yaz here is a Police Officer," the Time Lord added with a grin.
Yaz lowered her head to the bar, banging it lightly on the surface, "I stand corrected," she whispered. "Look we don't want any trouble," she said as she looked up but was greeted with the barrel of a gun in her face.
A small smirk was plastered on Jessie's face, "You've wondered into the wrong neighbourhood sister," she called over to the large man with a gun for an arm, "what shall we do with them Boss?"
The police officer raised her hands and slowly rotated on her stool, the three men all had weapons pointed in her direction, "Not sure", the large man began with a deep voice, "they don't look like the usual scum that Corneo likes to use." Yaz recognised that name Corneo again, "Too dumb to be Shinra spies too."
"Oi, rude," the Doctor joined the conversation but was still sipping her drink, "can't we lower the weapons and talk about this like civilised people?"
"Not until we know who you are and why you're here," the large man said slowly and dangerously.
Ignoring the gravity of their situation, the Doctor finished her drink and placed the glass on the bar. With a broad, bright grin, she replied, "Well, you're in for one hell of a story." Yaz couldn't help but shake her head, only the Doctor could find humour in their current situation. The large man wasn't smiling though, instead he instructed the others to lead Yaz and the Doctor to their hideout. Yaz silently cursed the Time Lord for leading her into trouble once again.