Quistis slid into one of the seats in the conference room and looked around her. Mallis, seated at the head of the table, had summoned all the key players from the Second Sorceress War: Squall, Seifer, Quistis, Zell, Selphie, Irvine, Nida, and Xu.
"Well," Mallis began, "I'd first like to thank all of you for meeting with me. I know we haven't had much time to learn about each other, but I hope to change that in the near future.
"I know you're all extremely busy people, so I'll be brief. In the weeks since I arrived here, I've spent a great deal of time going over mission logs – watching the tapes, that sort of thing. As I did so, one thing became abundantly clear: you, as a group, are frighteningly effective. When we send you on missions together, those missions, on average, are one-hundred and fifty percent more efficient than the average SeeD squadron.
"I don't know anything about school administration, but I do know how to run an enterprise like this one, so Cid has, more or less, granted me autonomy.
"What I'd like to propose is making you into a special task force. Something like SeeD special forces, if you will. You'd still go on regular missions as needed, and, on a day-to-day basis, nothing about your schedule would change. But when a mission comes up that demands special attention – a squad with the ability to strike with brutal force or to act with utmost discretion, we'd call you up. You'd have complete discretion when choosing which missions to accept.
"Before you decide, let me sweeten the deal." Mallis leaned forward and clasped his hands together. "Now, I don't want to insult you, but let's be honest: we're mercenaries here. We fight other people's battles, and we get paid for it. So it only makes sense that for fighting an especially dangerous or difficult battle, you should get paid more. In addition to increasing your current salaries, I'm willing to offer you a share in the profits from every mission you run." Mallis stood up, a pile of folders in hand. He turned them over to Squall, who saw his name written on the cover in large letters. He passed the other folders around the table, each person taking their own.
"I've taken the liberty of playing around with the numbers, and I drew up these projections. They'll show your current salary, the amount of the increase I'd give you, along with how much the retainer would grow at six, twelve, and twenty-four months. Plus, as I said, a share of the mission profits."
"Holy shit!" Zell exclaimed, eyes as wide as dinner plates.
"As I said," Mallis responded, "these are just some rough figures, subject to change."
"You mean they're negotiable?" Selphie asked.
"My dear girl," Mallis said, "one of the fundamental truths of being a mercenary is that all things are negotiable."
"No way," Zell said, finality in his voice as he slammed his folder on the table. "This whole thing stinks. You're trying to buy us off, and I'm not falling for it."
"What?" Selphie shrieked. "Are you insane? Have you finally snapped? Are all those hot dogs stopping air from getting to your brain?" Irvine put a hand on Selphie's shoulder to quiet her down.
"The girl does have a point, Zell," Irvine conceded. "Look at all them zero's. That'll buy you a lot of porn."
Despite their best efforts, the group gathered around the table found themselves unable to stifle their laughter. Zell scowled, folding his arms over his chest. "I hate you all."
"Of course, all that money doesn't matter to me," Irvine said. He leaned his chair back and put his feet up on the table, flipping the folder casually away from him. "I'm not even a SeeD."
Mallis looked over at Irvine. "Actually, that's something I've been meaning to address, Irvine, so thanks for bringing it up. Like I said, I've been reviewing mission reports, and you're doing the work of two or three SeeDs at least. You did a great job supervising the withdrawal at the last field exam. So, if Commander Leonhart doesn't object, I say we give you a few days to study for the written exam, and if you pass, you're in."
Irvine sat bolt upright, almost falling out of his chair in the process. "What?"
"Well, we wound up turning a nice profit on that field exam. We can afford to hire a fifth SeeD. Assuming, again, that Commander Leonhart isn't opposed to the idea."
Irvine looked over at Squall, trying to look unconcerned with the entire situation. No one at the table believed him, though. His eyes gleamed with eager hope.
"Sure," Squall said, shrugging. Irvine crowed in triumph, buoyed by what, from Squall, amounted to a ringing endorsement.
"All right. Just inform one of the Instructors when you want to take the written exam, and come see me afterwards." Mallis glanced around the table as he stood. "Now. There remains the little matter of the proposal I made to you as a group. What do you say."
"I'm sure as hell in!" Irvine said, laughing as he slapped the table.
"Me too!" Selphie added.
The vote passed around the table, each person voting in favor of the new squadron. The excitement dampened when it came time for Zell to vote. Everyone looked at him for a long moment. He stared back at them, looking at each of them in turn. Finally, he turned to Mallis and nodded slowly. The final vote rested with Squall, who responded with his normal enthusiasm.
"Okay."
"Well, then," Mallis started shaking hands as he gathered up his materials and prepared to leave. "That's all I have. Do any of you want to add anything?" Seeing that no one had further comments, he smiled at them. "Okay. I'll draw up the contracts and have them sent around to all of you. Thanks again for being willing to work with me."
As the door slid shut behind him, the group, delighted over their new roles, exploded into animated conversation. Zell, however, stared out the door as if he could see Mallis through it. Seifer took Zell's hand and looked into the martial artist's eyes.
"What's wrong, Zell?" Seifer asked, voice low.
"I still don't trust him. I just don't know what it is."
"And why should you trust him?" Irvine exclaimed, clapping Zell on the back. "I mean, what with the pay raises and special benefits and all. The rat bastard."
Seifer's eyes flashed a quick warning. Irvine saw, for a moment, a dangerous and protective streak in Seifer, one that warned him to tread carefully with his jokes.
"Look, Zell," Quistis said, "we can all appreciate that you don't trust the guy. You're just going with your instincts, and in our line of work, that's something we have to do. Our instincts keep us alive. But at some point, you have to accept that he's the Garden Master, that you'll just have to keep an eye on him until you have something more than a hunch to go on."
Seifer, immediately trusting Zell, asked, "Squall, what do we know about this guy?"
Squall looked across the table at Xu, deferring the question to her.
"Cid hasn't told us very much," she replied. "Mallis served as an officer in Esthar's army. Sometime after he left, he started Omega Dawn. They were strictly small-time. Mostly intelligence gathering and the occasional black op. That's all we know."
"That's all?" Nida, silent up to this point, finally spoke.
"Cid hasn't exactly been forthcoming with us," Xu admitted.
"See?" Zell perked up at Xu's words. "Either Cid's covering something up or Mallis is. Or both."
"Maybe Zell's paranoid," Squall said, "but maybe he's right," Squall said. "Xu, dig around in the Garden Network. Do whatever you have to. I'll check with Laguna, see what turns up in Esthar's military records. Everyone else, keep a low profile and be on the lookout. Fair enough, Zell?"
"Thanks, Squall."
"Right." Squall looked around the room, finality in his eyes. "We're done here."