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CHAPTER FIFTEEN – THE CITY PLANNER

'Making two possibilities a reality … predicting the future of things we all know … fighting off the diseased programming … of centuries, centuries, centuries, centuries … Science fails to recognize the single most potent element of human existence … letting the reigns go to the unfolding … is faith, faith, faith, faith … science has failed our world … science has failed our mother earth … Spirit-moves-through-all-things … Letting the reigns go to the unfolding … is faith, faith, faith, faith … (System of the Down: 'Science')'

Shantytown. Mayor's Tent. Evening.

Reeve rubbed his tired eyes as he placed another carefully folded paper building in place on the model of the new Midgar that he had been constructing for the last several weeks. While it lacked all the panache of the model that had been stored in the upper floors of the Shinra Building, this one of paper would do for his current purposes.

He had been sketching for months as the cleanup efforts in Sector Seven continued, but he had felt there was something missing. He remembered how he had spent countless hours poring over the model of Midgar before, turning on the lights and watching the electric train that served as a model of the transportation system run. He knew that entire system by heart as he should, having been Shinra's Head of Urban Development.

He'd loved his job, despite the long hours and the grief he received from the other Shinra executives. While he didn't care much for politics, Reeve had always been fascinated by the technical workings of the city. As a child he'd spent countless hours filling up sketchbooks of the buildings in the slums of Midgar where he had been born.

His childhood dream had revolved around building Midgar. He'd traveled the planet studying other cities, but there wasn't much to study as none of the other towns compared to Midgar's vast size. The closest he'd come to comparison was the far-flung Wutai, and he'd spent a fair amount of time there before the outbreak of war forced him back to Midgar where he'd taken a position with Shinra in the Urban Development department.

His aptitude and understanding of the workings of a city soon caught the eye of the President himself, and Reeve was quickly promoted to the position of Department Head after his predecessor died under mysterious circumstances. Reeve had always suspected that the Turks had been involved and because of that had always tried to watch his step with the President.

He loved Midgar, but hated Shinra and what they were doing to his baby. Granted, it wasn't really his, but he was the one that knew the inner workings of the city almost intimately. He understood the power output capacities of the reactors and he knew how much Professor Hojo had been leeching for his twisted experiments. Reeve could follow the trains of the transportation grid with one hundred percent precision in his head, and had built the model of the old Midgar not so much from maps and surveyor's diagrams, but mainly from his own head.

For this model he had taken a board scavenged from the wreckage and sketched out a rough outline of the current Midgar's footprint. Where the remnants of the Shinra Building now stood, he envisioned a large memorial park. It wouldn't be right to place a new building or downtown core there. He wanted it to be a place of remembrance for all of those who had lost their lives to Shinra's greed. The eight current reactors would be converted, for the time being, to coal plants. Later they would either be dismantled or converted again to some form of cleaner energy production.

Reeve had been studying theoretical manuals on the use of tidal currents to generate energy instead of the usual water over a dam method of hydroelectric output. But tidal generation was still experimental at best, being used successfully only by some small communities to generate power. It had yet to be attempted on the large scale that Midgar would require. That seemed to him like the most efficient way to produce energy with the strong tidal patterns in the seas just north of Midgar. He felt that it could be accomplished, but it would take time and gil to perfect the technique. Those were two commodities they were short on now.

The weather was starting to turn warmer as spring shifted to summer, but he knew that summer in the Midgar area was short lived. The current shelters would still do for now, but he didn't want Midgar's residents to spend another winter in the shantytown. It had been nearly a year since the end of Meteor, and while he knew that rebuilding any section of the city was an impossible task given their current state of resources, he hoped that would soon change when Tifa was successful in making the mines safe for the miners to return to work. And he did want to restore power to the city and perhaps move the shantytown into what had been the slums. The remains of the plates above would offer some protection from the elements and having electricity available would help the residents as well.

He sighed at the monumental task ahead of him. When he had decided to devote his life to being a city planner he never knew that it would take him to where he was now: rebuilding the greatest city on the Planet. But it was a good feeling even if it left him tired at the end of the day from dealing with the unknowns in the equation. He had a good team of people behind him, and he was certain that together they could rebuild Midgar.

"Sandwiches tonight." Elena stated, walking into the tent and setting two brown paper bags on the desk. She sat down in the chair, worn out from a rough day's cleanup.

Reeve looked up from the piece of paper that he was carefully folding into a building and smiled as she sat down.

"Rough day?" He asked, noting her worn appearance. Her blonde hair was streaked with dirt and a couple of locks hung down in her face where she had yet to push them away. Gone was the carefully polished Turk of before. In her place was becoming someone far more comfortable with herself. He thought she had never looked better.

Elena smiled a tired smile. "Yes. I never realized how much help Tifa was." Elena stopped, realizing what she'd just said. That hadn't come out right. Her cheeks reddened, flustered somewhat.

Reeve chuckled softly as he continued folding the paper building. "One stone at a time; moved by one man at a time. It all matters." He said softly, repeating an old proverb he had learned during his studies in Wutai's city planning and management.

Elena opened the bags and took out the sandwiches, flattening the bags so that they would have makeshift plates for dinner. She arranged the sandwiches and chips neatly on the bags and pulled two cans of cola pilfered from the cooks' secret stash out of her coat. She grinned as she set them on the desk. "Never let a Turk find out where you keep the good stuff. It's even cold."

Reeve grinned at her as she set the two cans down. "I'm surprised Reno hasn't found it yet."

Elena laughed. "He won't. Reno won't touch this stuff unless it's spiked with booze."

"Good point." Reeve set the building in place on the small section of the model that he had sitting on the desk. It was being built in small sections and moved to the larger model against the tent's canvas wall. He moved the current section out of his way, and pulled dinner towards him.

"What culinary delights have the cooks prepared for us tonight?" Reeve picked up the sandwich and took a quick peek inside.

"Roast chocobo and cheddar on white." Elena bit into the sandwich. "It's really not bad, considering what they have to work with."

He'd had worse in his life and really didn't complain much about the food served by the mess tents. They were making great strides in ensuring that anyone who desired food had something to eat. And while it wasn't of the usual quality the Shinra employees had been accustomed to, it was far better than most of the residents of the shantytown around them had ever had.

They ate in companionable silence; he enjoying her company after a day of people running in and out with problems and disputes to be settled; she enjoying being around someone who appreciated all the hard work that she did. She worked with Reno and Rude during the day, but when evening fell, they were usually off towards their own pursuits, namely the still-standing bar in Wall Market.

"The model is looking good. I like the way you have the buildings around the park like that." She commented, glancing over at the growing model. She had liked his idea of having the central park as both a memorial and a good place for the city's residents to gather. Reeve had spoken of playgrounds and walking/jogging tracks as well as picnic areas. In the middle was planned a monument of sorts, and he had given her the task of finding an artist to create a fitting monument. As of yet, she hadn't found someone capable of doing it. But she was keeping her ears open.

"That's the planned downtown commercial core." Reeve explained, always happy to tell her more about his plans. She was the only one that seemed to care. At least, she was the only one that visited with any regularity. "Spread out from there in each sector will be residential areas, primarily self-contained with small shops and schools to support the local population." He moved his hand to motion to the next section and bumped against an unanchored building. It wobbled as his hand brushed against it.

Elena instinctively moved her hand to steady the paper building at the same time his did. She was shocked at the tingle that shot up her spine at the sensation of his hand brushing against her fingers.

Reeve looked up abruptly as they touched; he had felt the same tingle that she had.

"I'm… I'm sorry." Elena blushed and pulled her hand away. She looked around the tent for something, anything, to change the subject with, feeling both the electricity and the awkwardness that hung in the air.

He wanted to tell her not to be, but something held him back. He was the mayor and she was… beautiful. Something told him that he would be asking for trouble if he voiced his thoughts. Instead, he steadied the building, looking for something to do to occupy the tense silence that had befallen them.

"Reno's bored." Elena spoke, pulling a subject out almost at random, trying to ease the tension and fill the sudden conversation void.

Reeve looked relieved as she changed the subject. "How so?"

"He's a Turk. All he knows is," Elena paused, not sure of how to phrase this. Granted, Reeve was well aware of what the Turks did, or had done, but she herself was trying to forget the darker side of that life. "…Turk stuff."

Reeve laughed in spite of himself. "Turk stuff?" He knew what she meant, but the way that she phrased it was, well, cute.

Elena looked at him, but not meeting him in the eye; she didn't want him to see what was in hers, and she was afraid of what she might find in his after their "encounter" a few minutes before. "Yes, Turk stuff. The stuff no one wants to talk about."

Reeve nodded in understanding. "What do you propose we do with Reno?" He asked her, looking for a suggestion.

Elena shrugged and resisted the urge to smart off about her fellow Turk. 'Toss him in the ocean. See if he floats?' "He needs to show he's tough. Turk stuff." She stated, knowing that was only a part of what her fiery superior needed. He'd been getting worse, not better, since Tifa's departure to the mines. If she didn't know better, she'd have said he was moping, and Elena was starting to understand what Rude had meant during their conversation in Reeve's absence.

Reeve leaned back in his chair, looking thoughtful for a moment. "I do need to make a trip to North Corel. They have someone who has been working on converting Mako Reactors to coal plants. And I have eight of those that the engineer can practice on."

"You would send Reno?" Elena asked, thinking that wasn't such a good idea, considering that Barrett Wallace was reported to have taken the reigns as mayor of Corel.

"Not alone. I plan on making the trip to discuss a contract for coal with Mayor Wallace." Reeve referred to the former leader of Avalanche formally. After all, it hadn't been himself that had been "friends" with the man. It had been the large stuffed moogle and cat that sat in the corner of his tent office. "Reno can go along as my bodyguard."

Elena smiled. "That will do him good."

"But I'll need Tifa as well." Reeve said, watching Elena's expression change.

"Are you sure? You'll have to mediate the whole time!" Elena was shocked.

Reeve's expression was dead serious. "Regardless of that, I can't go to North Corel without her. Mayor Wallace won't trust me enough to speak to me unless she's along. Of that I'm certain."