Midgar Documentaries

by Saint Louise

Part 1: Reno. This is a look into Reno's past before the game started, when he was seventeen and living in the Sector 2 slums. Soon it'll include Rude, Tseng and Elena too, perhaps Rufus. R&R!

Midgar Documentaries

Part 1: Sector 2

Journalist's View

There's a boy standing shiftily against a wall. I approach.

I ask him his name. It's Reno. He glances up and down the street furtively, and then whispers to me, 'What kinda stuff you want? I got everything.'

I ask him what he means and he replies, 'What do you think? Drugs, man.'

I decline his offer, but a girl behind me steps up to him. He seems to know her. He hands her a baggie full of white powder -cocaine, I presume- and she kisses him and then trots off somewhere. I ask him why he didn't get the money off her, and a thought begins to form in my mind. 'She doesn't need to sleep with me to get it, if that's what you're thinkin'.'

That's exactly what I was thinking. So why doesn't he take money off her?

'She's my girlfriend, man. For her, it's a freebie.'

Well, that clears everything up. Presently, the girl comes back, her pupils as wide as saucers. She sits down next to Reno and he puts a hand on her thigh. I ask her name. It's Miya. So, where is she from?

'Hee…right here,' she replies, obviously high. 'What 'bout you?'

I tell her I'm from the press. 'Oh,' she says. 'I don' speak to no press people.'

I ask her why not. 'Because,' she replies, 'I jus' don'.'

I can't decide whether the way she speaks is her natural dialect or if it's because of all the cocaine in her system.

'You heard her,' Reno says. 'She don't wanna speak to you. So back off.'

Before I can protest, a man comes past. He leers at Miya.

'How much for this hottie?'

Reno snarls at him. 'She ain't no hooker. Get lost.'

'Yeah,' Miya says weakly. 'I ain't no hooker!'

At this, Reno pulls out a gun and levels it at the man's head. 'I told you to piss off outta here. Now do it.'

The man runs. I'm surprised at this reaction. Let me explain why. Reno can't be more than seventeen and he's incredibly thin with flame red hair –I expect he dyes it- and two thin scars on his face. He doesn't seem frightening to me, but these people probably know him better than I do. I ask him whether I can ask some questions. He doesn't decline, but doesn't say yes either. I decide to tread cautiously. I ask him what he's doing here.

'Makin' a living.' is his reply. I ask him how.

'You really wanna know? I sell people drugs and rob 'em blind.'

I turn to Miya and ask her the same questions.

'Me? I dunno. Reno's here so I am. Oh, wait,' she giggles. 'I do know. I'm gettin' completely smashed on coke.'

Well, state the obvious. Miya is about Reno's age, maybe a little younger. She has long brown hair and big blue eyes. She's painfully thin, even worse than Reno, and is tall. She's wearing knee high black boots, a short black skirt and a blue tank top. She strikes me as incredibly beautiful, and I tell her she could be a star.

'Yeah,' she snorts. 'If I wasn't a drug addict. If I didn't live in the slums. If I wasn't me.'

She sighs and leans into Reno more. He kisses her and turns to me. Heroin addict, I think, or once was. He has track marks all up his arms like vines. He's wearing a sort of off-white vest –I think they call them 'wife-beaters'- and a pair of black combat trousers.

'You made her upset. You should watch your mouth.'

I ask him about his family. 'I ain't got no family.'

How come?

'My dad left when I was a kid and my Mom's boyfriend beat the shit outta me, so I though, fuck this, I'm leavin', and so here I am.'

I tell him I'm sorry. He laughs bitterly. 'Don't be. I'm not. Only thing I regret is, I left my sister behind, an' I don' even wanna think 'bout what that son of a bitch could be doin' to her…'

What about Miya?

'Me? I don't want no family. I got Reno.'

Yes, but surely you must have once had family?

'Not that ya could call 'em family, but I did once. Soon's I got these' –she gestures to her chest- 'My bastard brother kept tryin' to force himself on me. He used to hit me an' stuff.'

I don't ask what the 'stuff' is, because I can already guess, and it's not pretty.

'So,' she continues, 'I ran away and got messed up on Coke an' found Reno.'

I ask her, both of them actually, how they got into drugs.

'It's the only thing to do round here,' Reno replies. 'And it's good money.'

'I dunno,' Miya replies. 'I just did. When…when my brother…it was easier to be out of my head than to…hafta face all that.' Reno moves his hand higher up her thigh, as if to comfort her, and she nuzzles into his neck. He lights a cigarette and gives it to her, lighting another for himself and offering me one. What the Hell, I accept it. I press on with my questions. I notice Miya's pupils gradually getting back to normal. Good, I might get some intelligent conversation out of her. I ask her where she's from, and she replies, 'Sector Eight. The good part.'

I ask her what this means. 'The good part. Where there are nice houses and people have money. They also have perfect families. Or are supposed to.'

When I ask her what she means, she replies, 'You know. Where you have a Mom and Dad who are actually around most of the time and a nice brother who doesn't smack you around and a nice sister who's not a Coke addict.'

At this, Reno glares at me and I shut up. Obviously, family's a touchy subject. But how about Reno?

'I already told ya,' he says in his Midgar drawl. 'Stepfather, Mom, sister. We lived in Sector 1. Stepfather batted me around for kicks and Mom was oblivious.'

But, I ask, what about your sister?

A slow smile spreads across his face. 'She was beautiful. Such a good girl. Didn't belong in the slums at all. We didn't deserve her. She was sweet and pretty and smart, and not a bit like me. I woulda brought her with me, but I didn't wanna let her see the stuff I do because she's not like that. She doesn't wanna see me snorting coke or gettin' smashed or smokin' whatever comes to hand. Hell, I don't wanna let her see me do those things.' Reno's face falls. 'I miss her, ya know? That son of a bitch…I saw the way he looked at her. She's only fifteen!'

Are those tears I see in Reno's sea-green eyes? Maybe he's not as tough as others seem to think.

So, what about past relationships?

'Ha,' Miya snorts. 'If I ever took a boyfriend of mine home, my damn brother would murder him. Apparently, I was his toy to play with.'

'I had a lot of girls,' Reno says, but not boastfully. 'I get sick of them, they get sick of me. Not necessarily in that order, though. An' now I got Miya,' he grins broadly. 'And I'm happy.'

I ask them how they met. They look at each other briefly, before Reno begins.

'It was last year. I was sixteen, and I'd been here 2 years already. Then, one day I sees this beautiful girl just runnin' and runnin' an' I think, whoa. She's wearin' this real short dress and she's bleedin' and she has bruises everywhere. She's carryin' this big ol' bag and I think, she's run away from home.'

'I had,' Miya continues. 'All the way from Sector Eight. I was hungry an' thirsty and tired, and then I see this beautiful boy just starin' at me. So I stop, an' ask him, what?'

'And I said, you okay? Real original.' Reno puts in. 'Miya said no, an' so I sat down against a wall an' she came and sat with me and we talked an' she told me what happened. So I told her she could live with me. So when I got her home, she was practically faintin' with exhaustion. I took her boots off and then all this blood comes pourin' out. Her bastard brother had cut her feet up so's she couldn't run away.' Reno shakes his head at the memory.

'An' the rest is history,' says Miya. 'I still got the scars. You wanna see 'em?'

Without waiting for an answer, she takes her boots off and through the sheer stockings I can make out a thin scar on each foot. She must see me wince, because she says, 'It ain't no big deal. It doesn't hurt any more.'

I press on with the questions.

Have they ever been arrested?

'Nope,' Reno replies proudly. 'I'm too smart.'

Miya shakes her head. 'Why would I?'

Just a question. I ask, is either of them in a gang?

'Nah,' Reno says. 'I got friends, though.'

'Me, too,' says Miya. 'All the little girls here liked the pretty new girl. Shame their Moms didn't,' she adds with a laugh.

I'm assuming neither of them have any children, then.

'Nope,' Reno says. 'I'd rather rob kids than look after 'em.'

'Never,' Miya replies. 'But, I'll tell ya somethin', Some girls round here younger 'n me have kids.'

'Can you imagine?' Reno says disdainfully. 'I wonder how they cope. They're all crackheads and they're about fourteen, fifteen.'

'Guys should ask those kinda girls if they're hookers,' Miya says haughtily. 'Not me.'

By sheer coincidence one of the aforementioned girls walks past, in a tiny halter-top and tight skirt even shorter than Miya's, with caked-on makeup.

Reno makes a face. 'Guys pick up that kinda girl because she looks like what she is: a kid with a face fulla makeup.' He says. 'I'm sure glad my sister ain't like that.'

'It's disgusting,' Miya shivers.

I have to agree.

'C'mon, Reno-baby,' she says suddenly. 'We should be gettin' home now. See ya, journalist-lady.'

'Sure,' says Reno. 'Nice talkin' to ya.'

And I watch them leave, old enough to know that they could die, too young to care, with their arms around each other, completely in love, at least until the next person comes along. The sun sets behind me as I leave the Sector. Next stop: Sector 3.

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Well? What do you guys think? A little different from my usual style, maybe, but it was fun to write. R&R, I like feedback!

Miya is © me, and Reno totally isn't.

Explanation: This is supposed to be like one of those 'gritty, real life' documentaries you always see on TV, but with my spin on things. It's gonna include all of the Turks, making up a history for all of them that in the game they don't seem to have.