Written by Benoit Goudreault-Emond
6. A glimpse of hope is uncovered
Nanaki woke up next to the now extinguished fireplace in his room, his massive head resting on an open book. He momentarily had trouble remembering where he was. Then, he remembered, and also remembered which paragraph he had felt asleep on. He re-read it. And re-read it again. Together with some data he had taken in another book, that paragraph held the solution not only to the Shinra enigma, but also to Cloud's nightmares. He hurriedly jotted down some notes, then leaped out of the room and made his way to the inn's bar.
When he entered, he realized how late he had slept. AVALANCHE's other members were all up and about. Barret, sitting with Vincent and Reeve, was recounting an extremely convoluted story on how the first incarnation of AVALANCHE had been born; Reeve seemed captivated, but Vincent, as usual, looked like he didn't care. Cloud, Tifa and Cid, the three current leaders of AVALANCHE, were sitting on another table, arguing over a large sheet of paper. They were planning an offensive on Midgar in case they could not stop Shinra in time. Cloud looked worse than the previous night, although he was making a valiant try at hiding it. Tifa looked extremely worried, although she, too, was trying to hide her feelings.
Vincent saw Nanaki come in, and immediately walked to him. He stared intently. "What have you found?" he asked. Everybody else fell silent, waiting for Nanaki to speak.
"I have found what the Shinra are looking for," said Nanaki. He paused dramatically.
"I have also found a way to bring Aeris back to us," he continued, his voice as calm as ever.
Everyone stared at Nanaki, silent, incredulous. Finally, Barret expressed what was surely on everybody's mind at the time. "Are you sure you're still sane, Red? 'Cause if you are, I sure am not! I'm hearing stuff about bringing back Aeris!"
Nanaki smiled. "You are perfectly sane, my friend, and I believe I am as well. However, I agree that some things need to be explained.
"First, let me start with the case of the Shinra. As you all know, Mako reactors extract Mako energy out of the Planet. They do so with minimal power required once they are jump-started. However, jump-starting one requires the full output of a single reactor for several weeks. Without such a jump-start, the reactor will `run dry', like the one Tifa visited in Nibelheim. The logical question would be, how did they jump-start the first reactor?
"Well, it seems the Cetra did.
"Of course, originally, Mako reactors were not meant to be a power source used to the extent Shinra used them. The first one was built by the Cetra in an attempt to condense Mako energy for easy transport. Or so Shinra scientists speculated. They had no idea why the Cetra wanted to condense Mako energy. My guess is that they were hoping to unlease all that concentrated power in a single blast to help the Planet heal the crater.
"In any case, the virus killed the Cetra responsible for the reactor, and the Shinra found the reactor several centuries later. The Shinra duplicated its technology and used it to jump-start their own reactors. However, they kept the original reactor intact, originally for study and eventually because it wasn't cost-effective to destroy it."
"So that primitive reactor is still in service?" asked Reeve.
"Most likely, it is," continued Nanaki. "Even if it isn't, this is of little consequence. You see, the Cetra built the reactor in a very special place. In that place, the Planet discards life energy that is unused, say that was destined to extinct species or dead-ends in the evolutionary tree. Since the Planet always manufactures a small amount of energy, this venting is totally natural. It was therefore easy for the Cetra to harness that discarded energy into a Mako reactor to help the Planet. It would be equally easy for the Shinra to do so as well."
"But they'd need to construct a full reactor, wouldn't they?" asked Reeve.
"Not necessarily," answered Nanaki. "They could store sufficient energy in a capacitor of some sort and use that to restart one of the Midgar reactor. They could then start the other ones, although that would take several weeks."
Nanaki stopped speaking. Everyone fell silent, except Cloud, who asked Nanaki, "What about Aeris?"
Nanaki nodded. "I was coming to that. You see, as a Cetra, Aeris had a special relationship with the Planet. The texts about that are quite obscure, and the Shinra had little interest in that. However, I did find the following verses." Nanaki paused, then began to chant:
If one of the chosen is to die,"That's pretty lousy poetry," Cid observed.
At the place where life flows out,
It is possible to channel that life back into a chosen
Simply by focusing life.
"It probably sounds better in Cetra," countered Tifa.
"I wouldn't know, as that translation was done by a Shinra scientist," admitted Nanaki. "In any case, it seems that if we can find that location they mention, the place `where life flows out,' and focus the Mako energy to bring Aeris back from the Lifestream."
"Where in the world is that place?" asked Barret.
"My guess is that it's the same place where the Shinra found the Cetra's reactor. As for the Mako energy, the reactor is more than capable of focusing it with enough control."
"So that's all there is to it? We just find the place and go?" asked Cloud, eager to believe it.
"It is. And the Shinra carefully documented where it is. I can very easily find it from the Highwind's navigation system," concluded Nanaki.
"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Cloud, standing up so fast he tipped his chair over. "Let's go!" And with that, he ran out towards the Highwind with a speed no one would have thought him capable of a few minutes before. His friends got up almost as quickly, following him to the Highwind.
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Benoit Goudreault-Emond April, 9 2001