The Future Imperfect
AN – A slightly shorter chapter this time, which feels a bit like filler… not my favourite, to be honest, but initially I had it combined with the next chapter and it was just too long. The good news is that I have finished the next couple of chapters so I'll probably post the next chapter soon.
Also, an early warning that in a couple of chapters this will go up a rating to 'M'. I had hoped to keep it T, but I just couldn't progress the story properly without including a few more gory details in a chapter (gorier than the game would allow, which is my benchmark!).
Chapter Thirteen
"Greetings and welcome. Avalanche, I presume? My name is Hart and it's a pleasure to meet you.
I've come to escort you to Mayor Domino, as per his request." Angeal didn't recognise the man, but then again he had never really had anything to do with the mayoral office and he was unlikely to have run into him much in the building. It didn't mean that Hart wouldn't recognise them though, all three of them had been famous faces as part of SOLDIER.
He was a strange looking man, with white hair and a pointed goatee. He was small, not even as tall as Cloud. Angeal was reminded of the tales his mother had spun tales of the small, mischievous brownies that would come and help around the house, with pointed beards, long ears and little caps. Despite his respectable suit and bearing there was something about Hart that immediately brought to Angeal's mind the creatures in his mother's stories.
"The mayor of Midgar?" Barret was asking incredulously. "The empty suit that's just a mouth piece for Shinra?"
"Yes, the mayor of our dear Midgar. The most magnificent city ever built. That Mayor Domino. The visual entertainment hall has been experiencing technical difficulties of late and he suspected that these difficulties might impede your progress."
"Difficulties!" Genesis hissed under his breath, subsiding when Tifa put a hand warningly on his arm. Hart's gaze flickered once to Genesis before returning to Barret.
"So what does the mayor want with us?" Cloud asked slowly. Sephiroth shifted beside him, using the movement to mask him tucking Masamune further back so it was out of view. Angeal ducked his head down inside his SOLDIER's helmet, trying to hide his distinctive jawline from Hart.
"I'm afraid you'll have to ask him that yourself." The prim man replied, before walking away from them.
"Guess we're supposed to follow." Barret stated, watching his retreating back.
"Are we certain this is not a trap?" Genesis asked dubiously. Cloud shrugged and started walking after Hart. They headed up another escalator and through a door into a large circular library.
"Look at this place!" Barret exclaimed, staring around at the sheer number of books. The library was two floors, each floor four times the height of Angeal, and on each floor there were full height bookshelves encircling the centre. Behind the first circle of books there ran a second, a corridor created between the bookshelves. It was an impressive sight, and not one Angeal was familiar with having never come here before.
"Corporate archives." Sephiroth murmured quietly, more for Cloud's benefit than anything else Angeal thought. It was unusual for Sephiroth to be so solicitous of anyone; he stuck close to Cloud, gave him useful information and seemed ready to protect him if needed. Not that Cloud did need it, he was fully capable of looking after himself. Angeal thought maybe it was because Cloud seemed to treat Sephiroth like a human, not an elite SOLDIER. Or maybe there was some other connection he was as yet unaware of. Still, it was refreshing to see.
Hart led them over to an unassuming section of the shelves. As he approached it, the whole shelf slid backwards and sideways to reveal a staircase that climbed to the second floor, panelled in wood with a red carpet. Another bookcase slid aside at the top for them to walk out onto the balcony that surrounded the second floor.
Hart stopped by a carved wooden door. "Through here," he gestured calmly.
Barret pointed a finger at him threateningly. "If this is a trap, you are a dead man. You hear?" Hart said nothing but continued to gesture for them to enter the door. Cloud went to enter but Angeal put a hand on his shoulder to restrain him.
"I will wait out here, just in case." Cloud nodded, slipping into the room with Tifa, Barret and Sephiroth close behind. Genesis walked over to the balcony and looked down at the lower floor. Angeal leant against the bookshelf next to the door, arms crossed in front of him.
"I was unaware Avalanche had multiple allies within the forces." Hart commented eventually, never shifting from his position by the door. Genesis turned to face Hart, helmet tilting as the redhead studied him carefully.
Before Genesis could say anything, Angeal caught his gaze and shook his head. Whilst the SOLDIER helmet covered most of his head, it was pointed in front and resembled the beak of a crow, making it easy to discern a small movement. Genesis's lips, the only part of his friend that Angeal could see underneath the infantry helmet, twisted slightly but Genesis heeded Angeal's advice and turned back to look at the room below. Hart looked impassively at them and turned his attention back to the closed door. The awkward silence stretched while they waited for the others to finish their interview with the mayor.
After some time had passed, the wooden door opened again and the others filed out. They looked thoughtful, Cloud moving straight past them all as if to hurry away, but Barret stopped by Hart.
"I don' s'pose you have a tip for finding this man o' yours?"
"Certainly I could do just that. But a man in my position must conduct his affairs with… discretion. Which is to say, that that which has been requested cannot be freely given, if you take my meaning."
"You want money!"
The grey haired man watched Barret impassively. "Disclosing confidential information entails considerable risk. Due compensation is to be expected. In this particular instance, that would amount to ten thousand gil."
"Rip us off more, why don't you! We'll find him on our own." Barret shook his head and turned his back on Hart.
Angeal hurried to catch up with Cloud, ignoring Barret's complaints. "What did Mayor Domino have to say?"
Cloud huffed with amusement. "A lot about how underappreciated he is." He looked sideways at Angeal, a small smile playing on his lips. "Which is lucky for Avalanche. He's been their man on the inside for a while now. He doesn't like the lack of respect Shinra gives him. He's also been the one easing our way through the building and covering for us with the security feeds."
"It sounds as though we are very fortunate he is on our side." Genesis commented from next to Angeal. Tifa, walking just behind, scoffed slightly.
"Now you are aligning yourself with Avalanche?"
Genesis stopped in his tracks, turning to face her. "Well, I am certainly not aligning myself with Shinra anymore, so why not? Do I not make the grade for your illustrious group?"
Tifa shook her head. "We aren't exactly Avalanche right now, just a rescue party. Isn't that enough? I think we're going to need all the help we can get to rescue Aerith and get out of here safely."
"My dear, my sword is at your command." Genesis replied gallantly, rewarded by seeing Tifa roll her eyes at him. Angeal stifled a smirk and caught back up with Cloud, who had stepped onto an escalator to move up a floor. Angeal stood on the step below, finding that their difference in height meant that he was still roughly level with Cloud.
"What are we doing now?" Angeal asked the blond. Cloud looked sideways at him.
"We're heading to the recreational facility on the sixty third floor." Cloud informed him. "There, we find a collaborator of the mayor's who can get us access to the sixty fourth."
Angeal frowned, thinking of all the possible drawbacks of their plan. The recreational facility was one he was familiar with, and there was a stronger chance that someone might recognise himself, Genesis or Sephiroth there. Still, with the outfits they had on they had a reasonable chance of being unnoticed. More so than Cloud himself, anyway.
Reaching the top, they stepped off by a sign that pointed them towards the facility. Barret scoffed behind them.
"Here's the sixty third floor, where loyal Shinra employees relax and recharge."
"Select Shinra employees," Genesis corrected him. "Those who are deemed worthy enough to obtain an executive keycard."
"It's pretty late," Tifa commented as she looked around. "But I bet people are still here dealing with the aftermath of Sector Seven."
"It's their own damn fault." Barret grumbled in response. Angeal was close enough to hear Cloud's sigh.
"Stay focussed. We need to find this guy." He led the way through the sleek doors that lay in front of them, the keycard granting them entry. They passed by a series of offices, tinted glass windows displaying people working frantically at their desks.
"Seeing them like this… makes me feel a little better." Tifa said slowly, watching the workers.
"They didn't ask for this." Genesis retorted sharply.
"But they chose to work for Shinra." Barret stated gruffly. "That makes them complicit."
"So did we, once." Angeal looked at the people, most of whom looked distressed even as they fielded phone calls or held hurried meetings. He shook his head slowly. "They too, have dreams and honour. They probably believe that Avalanche and Wutai dropped the plate and are now just trying to do their best for the survivors."
Barret grunted and Cloud sighed. "Let's go and find our contact."
Angeal tore his eyes away from the office staff. "The recreational facility is just ahead."
They filed in through the door to find themselves in a large open space. In the centre, behind glass barriers, a large tree stood in a small garden. Carefully separated so that no one could actually approach it, Angeal wasn't even sure it was real. It looked exactly the same as it did in his memory, which was telling.
Cloud was meandering around the crowd, people automatically moving out of his way. He made an imposing figure despite his short stature in his modified SOLDIER uniform, the giant Buster Sword strapped on his back.
"What are we looking for?" Angeal murmured to Tifa, watching Cloud moving around the space and interact sporadically with people.
"Someone standing by themselves, who answers to the call sign 'The mayor'." Tifa replied softly, as they followed Cloud up to the mezzanine level. "If they reply 'the best!' we have a winner."
Angeal frowned. "That seems a bit obvious."
"Tell me about it." Tifa sighed. They reached the top of the stairs and watched Cloud approaching a man next to a dome-like structure. The man pumped a fist into the air.
"Is the best!" The man said loudly, drawing more than one stare. Angeal had to fight the urge to drop his face into his hand, knowing that it wouldn't help his tenuous disguise as a SOLDIER Third Class. Instead he groaned quietly, drawing the attention of Genesis and Sephiroth who were standing behind him. Genesis snorted while Sephiroth sighed.
"It's as though he thinks this is a game." Angeal grumbled. "Betraying Shinra is definitely not something you can joke about." The destruction of Sector Seven was at the forefront of his mind.
"He probably isn't aware of the true cost of going against them." Sephiroth replied softly. "Though he wisely wishes to test their prowess before he just hands over access to the upper floors."
Angeal watched as the informant operated the dome like structure, opening a door that Cloud, Barret and Tifa walked straight into. The dome was one of the Shinra combat simulators, that created a virtual environment where you could train against a variety of enemy types. There was a small viewing window that let an audience see what the fighters could, so Angeal headed that way. The informant looked uneasily at them, only relaxing when Angeal told him quietly that they were with the others.
It didn't take them very long to defeat the mechanised weapons that they were pitted against, and the informant duly handed them a card to the sixty fourth floor.
"Access to R&D is limited to authorised personnel only," the informant went on to tell them, once they had explained their purpose in rescuing Aerith.
"We'll find a way in." Cloud reassured him. "Know where we can find Hojo?"
"A board meeting is scheduled to start soon, it's being held in the main conference room. President Shinra, Professor Hojo and the other directors will be in attendance."
"Think they like surprises?" Barret asked with a grin. "We can even take the president as a hostage. Think of the leverage."
"Security would be all over you the moment you even thought it." Angeal pointed out to the impulsive man. "Then there is no way we will ever reach Aerith."
"We need to find out what they are planning." Cloud told the informant.
"So you need to spy on their meeting? If you head to the men's restroom, you can climb into the airducts there. They run all the way through the ceilings, including over the conference room."
"Thanks for the tip." Cloud turned away from the informant and walked towards the stairs back to the lower level, Sephiroth joining him as he passed them. At the top of the stairs, they both slowed as a pair of troopers came up the stairs towards them. Tifa looked over at Angeal and Genesis, worry etched on her face. Angeal could understand why, this was no place for a brawl. It would draw undue attention to them that they really didn't want.
But as the second trooper began to move forwards, his gun rising, the first held out a hand. "Cloud?" He asked, a questioning lilt in his voice. Sephiroth subtly palmed the handle of Masamune, keeping the sword tucked behind him. "You're Cloud, right?"
Angeal moved to Cloud's other side, noticing Cloud's blank expression.
"Holy shit!" The trooper exclaimed after he'd gotten a better look. "It's cool bro," he told his companion. "We went through training together." He took another couple of steps towards Cloud. "So you're still alive and kicking, huh? Some of the guys heard you got smoked, but I told them it was all bullshit. Hey man, I'm gonna go get Kunsel. I'll be right back." Both troopers ran down the stairs, Cloud bringing his hand up to his temple and blinked heavily whilst shaking his head.
"You ok?" Tifa asked, concerned, moving around Sephiroth to get a better look at him.
"Yeah." Cloud looked at the retreating troopers. "We need to go. Now." He shook his head one last time before running down the stairs. It took Angeal a few moments to follow.
Kunsel… Kunsel… he knew that name. An image of a SOLDIER third class, decked out in a maroon outfit filled his mind. That's right, Zack had mentioned a Kunsel. Angeal frowned at Cloud's retreating figure. Did this mean that Cloud knew Zack too? Maybe the blond held some of the answers as to where Zack was now. Angeal frowned as he considered that in the near future he would have to have a long conversation with Cloud, to try to get to the bottom of exactly what had been going on over the last seven years.