Chapter Five:
Corporate Decisions
"How much longer?"
Rani sighed. Luts had asked the same question, or some variation of it, no less than ten times. "For the love of the Ancients, how am I supposed to know? President Reeve is a busy man."
Luts simply shrugged and resumed kicking the wall upon which he was leaning with the heel of his boot, which served to further infuriate the much more patient soldier sitting beside him.
"Do you REALLY have to do that?" Rani said, perhaps more loudly than he had intended. "That's annoying."
Luts shrugged again. "You're pretty irritable."
"No shit."
"Does everyone act this way when they speak to the president of...whatever-the-hell-you-called-it?" Luts asked innocently enough.
"Yes! I mean, no! I mean..." The hapless Neo-Shinra soldier gave a slight grunt of exasperation. He tapped his fingers against his standard-issue Shinra pants; though he had removed his armor, he was still uniformed, aside from his tight white shirt that pressed uncomfortably against his flesh. "Look," he explained, now more calm than before, "Not just anyone is allowed to talk to President Reeve. I mean, he's pretty important; he took over the company that controlled the entire known world when it was on the verge of collapse and built it back up to its former glory from practically nothing. Well, he had the help of Cloud and his-"
"Who's that? Cloud? What the hell kind of name is Cloud?" Luts could not help but laugh a bit.
"Shut up!" Rani said, his voice barely above a whisper. "You really aren't from around here, are you? Cloud and his companions saved the world four years ago. If you keep talking about him like that, you're bound to get your ass kicked by a crowd of angry Cloud-fans."
Once more, the clueless Luts shrugged carelessly. "Whatever. Anyway, we've been waiting for a long time now and it would be great if-"
"Mr. Garas, you and your...companion...may enter the President's office now." The voice was that of Reeve's secretary.
"Oh...al...alright..." Rani slowly stood and made his way into the office, his face showing a combination of shock and apprehension. "W...well? Are you...coming?" he asked Luts.
As is not any great surprise, Luts shrugged and followed the nervous soldier into the office of the president of Neo-Shinra. It was not quite as tidy and organized as one might expect of the man who is in charge of the operations of a corporation that is more government than business; papers were strewn about the small desk at the far end of the room, a few of which had made their way to the floor. A few scattered chairs sat in various places in the room, and it appeared as if Rani had pulled one of these chairs up to the President's desk and was sitting in it presently. To be honest, Luts could not see what Rani was so nervous about; the man behind the counter was young for his role, being in his early thirties, and wore casual business clothing. His black hair was tied back into a ponytail that reached roughly to the small of his back, and his right hand fidgeted with a slight goatee upon his chin. Following the example of Rani, Luts promptly grabbed a chair, dragged it to the desk, and sat upon it boredly.
"You must be Luts," Reeve said. "I'm president Reeve of Neo-Shinra."
"Yeah, I know." Luts said. "You don't look too intimidating to me; Rani here has been worried since he heard you'd be speaking to us privately."
This comment caused Rani to sit up in his chair indignantly, ever being easily annoyed. "I haven't been worried! Can we get down to business now, please?"
Reeve laughed. "Certainly." He straightened himself within his chair. "So let's not fool around; Luts, you claim that the unidentifiable dome of energy to the south of here is actually a portal to a time in the distant future that probably doesn't exist, according to current researchers who say the Planet will fall apart in a few thousand years. Am I correct?"
"Yeah, that's right...I guess," Luts replied. "But I'm not lying."
"I never said you were," Reeve said. "But anyway, you say that there was another with you when you were supposedly transported through time, correct?"
"Yeah. That would be Clest." Luts paused. "Wait a minute, we weren't the only ones. A helicopter was pulled through right before we were."
"Helicopter?" Reeve asked. "Can you describe it to me?"
Luts shrugged. "Sure. It was mostly silver, with an odd logo on it. I think the logo for Balamb Garden is black and white on a blue background-"
"Where?"
"Balamb Gar-...oh, never mind. You wouldn't know; SeeD won't be formed for about fifteen thousand years."
Reeve rubbed his goatee more furiously than ever. "Hmm...we found a helicopter near Icicle Inn a few days ago that matches that description. As far as I know, the inhabitants of the craft are doing fine." He turned his chair around so that he faced the darkness behind him. "That's about it. Cloud, you can come out now."
From out of the darkness stepped a previously unseen individual. He wore a blue sweater and extremely baggy pants, but the most obvious thing about him was his unbelievably wild and spiky hair that seemed to stand on end in every direction at once. At the sight of the man, Rani nearly collapsed, but caught himself before embarrassingly falling out of his chair.
"If you truly are from another time, I suppose I had better introduce this man," Reeve said. "Luts, this is Cloud. He's agreed to enter your 'time portal' and investigate."
Cloud crossed his arms. "No I didn-"
Reeve silenced him with the wave of a hand. "We will discover the truth behind this matter. However, we want you to help us. And you too, Rani," he added, looking toward the speechless soldier.
"All right," Luts agreed. "Anything that'll help me find my friend and get home sounds good to me."
Rani could only mutter in response. "Y...yes sir..."
"Fine then, it's settled," Reeve said. "I'll take care of your rooms for the evening, and you'll set off tomorrow. I'll speak to you three in the morning about exactly what I want you to do. Understand?"
Luts could hardly wait.
* * * * *
"Damn him. Damn him straight back to the X-zone."
The man (if he could be called a man) who spoke hovered several inches above a solid ground that was indistinguishable in the realm of eternal black within which he currently existed. Only he could be seen within the void; however, he could be seen as clearly as if he were outside on a cloudless day. Though he was thin, his deathly pale, naked body rippled with muscles, which were being stimulated by the slow movement of his two purple, bat-like wings. His black eyes glowed with a purple color similar to that of his wings and his silver hair flowed in an unseen, unfelt wind as he contemplated his situation.
"Damn Chaos, and damn that Xaer, his willing pawn! We were not meant for this...this darkness!" The man seemed to be quite frustrated with his situation. "Some day, some day I will lead my people out of this hell. We will be as ever we were meant to be: we will rule the world! And..." He paused and coughed. "I will-"
"Watch what you say from now on, lest incriminating ears listen to your empty promises."
The winged individual spun around to face a man clad from head to toe in heavy black armor. "Garland," he said simply. "Stay away from my quarters."
"Your quarters?" Garland said with a booming, wicked laugh. "Everything is the same around here! Do not think you are the only one who longs for something other than this...this endless, black hell! You can believe me when I tell you that this place is little better than the X-zone."
The winged individual sighed. "Does it not bother you that we are but pawns?"
"And noble pawns we are, Aelkam! You and your folk will one day rule the world, which is more than I can say those minions of the Three have ever come close to doing. You should take pride in your status."
Aelkam was silent for a long while. When he spoke, his voice seemed awkward and out of place in the silence that permeated the dark realm. "Why...why did Xaer not kill the boy?"
Garland laughed. "You know the answer to that question. Without the three Vessels, it will be difficult, at best, to retrieve the three crystals that yet elude our grasp." At this, Garland simply disappeared into the darkness. However, his voice lingered for a short while. "And remember, be wary of what you say, whether you speak to yourself or others. The infernal father has eyes and ears that even your folk could never hope to find..."
Aelkam sighed dismally. Of course, Garland was right; Garland was always right. For being the highest authority short of Chaos himself, the dark knight seemed to be extremely sympathetic to the problems of others. However, it was no matter if the infernal god found out about Aelkam's qualms; Chaos knew that none of his subjects would ever dream of escape for fear of the eternal torment that would result. Regardless, the young winged being swore that the time would come when his people could rise up against Chaos. The time would surely come.
The time simply had to come.
Corporate Decisions
"How much longer?"
Rani sighed. Luts had asked the same question, or some variation of it, no less than ten times. "For the love of the Ancients, how am I supposed to know? President Reeve is a busy man."
Luts simply shrugged and resumed kicking the wall upon which he was leaning with the heel of his boot, which served to further infuriate the much more patient soldier sitting beside him.
"Do you REALLY have to do that?" Rani said, perhaps more loudly than he had intended. "That's annoying."
Luts shrugged again. "You're pretty irritable."
"No shit."
"Does everyone act this way when they speak to the president of...whatever-the-hell-you-called-it?" Luts asked innocently enough.
"Yes! I mean, no! I mean..." The hapless Neo-Shinra soldier gave a slight grunt of exasperation. He tapped his fingers against his standard-issue Shinra pants; though he had removed his armor, he was still uniformed, aside from his tight white shirt that pressed uncomfortably against his flesh. "Look," he explained, now more calm than before, "Not just anyone is allowed to talk to President Reeve. I mean, he's pretty important; he took over the company that controlled the entire known world when it was on the verge of collapse and built it back up to its former glory from practically nothing. Well, he had the help of Cloud and his-"
"Who's that? Cloud? What the hell kind of name is Cloud?" Luts could not help but laugh a bit.
"Shut up!" Rani said, his voice barely above a whisper. "You really aren't from around here, are you? Cloud and his companions saved the world four years ago. If you keep talking about him like that, you're bound to get your ass kicked by a crowd of angry Cloud-fans."
Once more, the clueless Luts shrugged carelessly. "Whatever. Anyway, we've been waiting for a long time now and it would be great if-"
"Mr. Garas, you and your...companion...may enter the President's office now." The voice was that of Reeve's secretary.
"Oh...al...alright..." Rani slowly stood and made his way into the office, his face showing a combination of shock and apprehension. "W...well? Are you...coming?" he asked Luts.
As is not any great surprise, Luts shrugged and followed the nervous soldier into the office of the president of Neo-Shinra. It was not quite as tidy and organized as one might expect of the man who is in charge of the operations of a corporation that is more government than business; papers were strewn about the small desk at the far end of the room, a few of which had made their way to the floor. A few scattered chairs sat in various places in the room, and it appeared as if Rani had pulled one of these chairs up to the President's desk and was sitting in it presently. To be honest, Luts could not see what Rani was so nervous about; the man behind the counter was young for his role, being in his early thirties, and wore casual business clothing. His black hair was tied back into a ponytail that reached roughly to the small of his back, and his right hand fidgeted with a slight goatee upon his chin. Following the example of Rani, Luts promptly grabbed a chair, dragged it to the desk, and sat upon it boredly.
"You must be Luts," Reeve said. "I'm president Reeve of Neo-Shinra."
"Yeah, I know." Luts said. "You don't look too intimidating to me; Rani here has been worried since he heard you'd be speaking to us privately."
This comment caused Rani to sit up in his chair indignantly, ever being easily annoyed. "I haven't been worried! Can we get down to business now, please?"
Reeve laughed. "Certainly." He straightened himself within his chair. "So let's not fool around; Luts, you claim that the unidentifiable dome of energy to the south of here is actually a portal to a time in the distant future that probably doesn't exist, according to current researchers who say the Planet will fall apart in a few thousand years. Am I correct?"
"Yeah, that's right...I guess," Luts replied. "But I'm not lying."
"I never said you were," Reeve said. "But anyway, you say that there was another with you when you were supposedly transported through time, correct?"
"Yeah. That would be Clest." Luts paused. "Wait a minute, we weren't the only ones. A helicopter was pulled through right before we were."
"Helicopter?" Reeve asked. "Can you describe it to me?"
Luts shrugged. "Sure. It was mostly silver, with an odd logo on it. I think the logo for Balamb Garden is black and white on a blue background-"
"Where?"
"Balamb Gar-...oh, never mind. You wouldn't know; SeeD won't be formed for about fifteen thousand years."
Reeve rubbed his goatee more furiously than ever. "Hmm...we found a helicopter near Icicle Inn a few days ago that matches that description. As far as I know, the inhabitants of the craft are doing fine." He turned his chair around so that he faced the darkness behind him. "That's about it. Cloud, you can come out now."
From out of the darkness stepped a previously unseen individual. He wore a blue sweater and extremely baggy pants, but the most obvious thing about him was his unbelievably wild and spiky hair that seemed to stand on end in every direction at once. At the sight of the man, Rani nearly collapsed, but caught himself before embarrassingly falling out of his chair.
"If you truly are from another time, I suppose I had better introduce this man," Reeve said. "Luts, this is Cloud. He's agreed to enter your 'time portal' and investigate."
Cloud crossed his arms. "No I didn-"
Reeve silenced him with the wave of a hand. "We will discover the truth behind this matter. However, we want you to help us. And you too, Rani," he added, looking toward the speechless soldier.
"All right," Luts agreed. "Anything that'll help me find my friend and get home sounds good to me."
Rani could only mutter in response. "Y...yes sir..."
"Fine then, it's settled," Reeve said. "I'll take care of your rooms for the evening, and you'll set off tomorrow. I'll speak to you three in the morning about exactly what I want you to do. Understand?"
Luts could hardly wait.
* * * * *
"Damn him. Damn him straight back to the X-zone."
The man (if he could be called a man) who spoke hovered several inches above a solid ground that was indistinguishable in the realm of eternal black within which he currently existed. Only he could be seen within the void; however, he could be seen as clearly as if he were outside on a cloudless day. Though he was thin, his deathly pale, naked body rippled with muscles, which were being stimulated by the slow movement of his two purple, bat-like wings. His black eyes glowed with a purple color similar to that of his wings and his silver hair flowed in an unseen, unfelt wind as he contemplated his situation.
"Damn Chaos, and damn that Xaer, his willing pawn! We were not meant for this...this darkness!" The man seemed to be quite frustrated with his situation. "Some day, some day I will lead my people out of this hell. We will be as ever we were meant to be: we will rule the world! And..." He paused and coughed. "I will-"
"Watch what you say from now on, lest incriminating ears listen to your empty promises."
The winged individual spun around to face a man clad from head to toe in heavy black armor. "Garland," he said simply. "Stay away from my quarters."
"Your quarters?" Garland said with a booming, wicked laugh. "Everything is the same around here! Do not think you are the only one who longs for something other than this...this endless, black hell! You can believe me when I tell you that this place is little better than the X-zone."
The winged individual sighed. "Does it not bother you that we are but pawns?"
"And noble pawns we are, Aelkam! You and your folk will one day rule the world, which is more than I can say those minions of the Three have ever come close to doing. You should take pride in your status."
Aelkam was silent for a long while. When he spoke, his voice seemed awkward and out of place in the silence that permeated the dark realm. "Why...why did Xaer not kill the boy?"
Garland laughed. "You know the answer to that question. Without the three Vessels, it will be difficult, at best, to retrieve the three crystals that yet elude our grasp." At this, Garland simply disappeared into the darkness. However, his voice lingered for a short while. "And remember, be wary of what you say, whether you speak to yourself or others. The infernal father has eyes and ears that even your folk could never hope to find..."
Aelkam sighed dismally. Of course, Garland was right; Garland was always right. For being the highest authority short of Chaos himself, the dark knight seemed to be extremely sympathetic to the problems of others. However, it was no matter if the infernal god found out about Aelkam's qualms; Chaos knew that none of his subjects would ever dream of escape for fear of the eternal torment that would result. Regardless, the young winged being swore that the time would come when his people could rise up against Chaos. The time would surely come.
The time simply had to come.