The group's attention, focused on Squall, dissolved in an instant. Quistis retreated within herself to consider Squall's words. Xu and Seifer discussed the implications of Squall's statement. Zell stared. Squall stood still, waiting for everyone to return to the topic at hand. After a few moments of the scattered discussions, a shrill whistle cut through the noise.
"Hey!" Irvine
exclaimed. "Squall's not done
yet. Let the man finish."
Squall nodded his thanks to Irvine and continued. "We all have work to do. Before we do anything, we need to know who's worth our time, who we can trust."
"Whaddya mean?" asked Zell.
"I need to know who we can bring into this conspiracy when it comes down to the wire. Who'll fight for Cid, who'll fight for us. Who's strong enough to be of use. What skills we'll have on our side. Who we take with us if we have to flee."
Quistis looked up. "So what are you proposing?"
"I need you all to start going through the files at Garden, to figure out who we want on our side. Quistis, I want you to tackle the academic records. Find the brightest students, the cadets with the highest scores, the most gifted magic users. We'll need to be well-rounded to make this work."
"Got it," she said.
"Zell, you're in charge of the physical aspect. The toughest fighters. Make sure you get a good balance of fighting styles when you're choosing people. Irvine, you work with Zell. We may need to conduct a surprise raid on the arsenal, so I want plans in place." Irvine nodded and touched the brim of his hat. "Selphie, you're in charge of the junior cadets. When the fighting starts, I want to evacuate them as quickly as possible, get them out of the line of fire. That's your responsibility."
"Right," Selphie answered.
"Nida, you keep both eyes on the Ragnarok. Make sure it's ready to go at short notice. It may be our only hope for getting the kids out. Seifer, you handle security. If you think things are getting dangerous, pull the plug."
"Understood."
"Everyone submits their reports to Xu, and she and I will compile them. We'll find one person for every seat on the Ragnarok and hope that's enough. Questions?" No one moved. Everyone wore a look of deep contemplation. "Right. We're done, then."
"Wait," Quistis said. "There's something else."
"What is it?" Selphie asked.
Quistis stood up, and began to circle the room, still clutching the satchel that hadn't left her grasp since Balamb Garden.
"Okay, this is pretty huge, so I have to ease into it. Just bear with me. When I was thirteen, I stole a keycard from Cid's office. It got me access to some of the lower levels, where Cid has his private library. Seifer needed me to do some research, and I remembered a book I'd seen, written in code. So I set myself to translating it.
"Turns out, after he graduated from the Esthar College of Magic, Cid got a position as a researcher with Dr. Odine. This was during the time that Odine was developing para-magic"
"Was Cid," Squall asked, speaking though clenched teeth, "one of the people who conducted tests on Ellone?"
"No. As far as I can tell, Cid didn't meet Ellone until she came to the orphanage. He was working in another of Odine's research departments.
"The thing you have to know about Odine is that he's extremely paranoid. People from one team don't know who's on the other teams. Each researcher is required to keep their work in a personalized code, just to further compartmentalize the staff. Odine likes it best if the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing."
"So what does any of this have to do with us?" said Irvine, leaning up against Laguna's desk.
"A lot," Quistis answered, pulling pages out of her satchel. "This all comes from Cid's private journal, which he also kept in code. He started keeping it when Odine transferred him away from general research staff." She started reading off entries.
"'Transferred into Odine's Special Projects Division. Active research much more exciting than simple data collection. Odine has agreed to meet with me to hear my new ideas.'
"'Met with Odine today. Creepy as always. He likes the new ideas. Wants me to draw up a formal proposal for him to review. Possible presentation before Adel. Very exciting.'
"'Started research with time magic. Limitless potential. One of Odine's teams is working with time magic. If I'm caught, no telling what he'll do.'
"'Managed to throw my mind back in time. Witnessed the Lunar Cry that devastated Centra. This knowledge will be useful in tracking the Crystal Pillar.'
"'Attempted to reach forward in time. First effort unsuccessful, will try again tomorrow.'
"'Success! I have made contact with the future. There's incredible power there.'
"'Visions of the future at night. Strange sensation of being followed.'
"'Powerful dream. Walking through the ruins of a dead city. Wasteland as far as the eye can see. Woman with elaborate tattoos there, dressed in feathers. She sees me and smiles. Then I wake up.'"
"Ultimecia," Seifer said. "She always came to me in my dreams."
"It goes on," Quistis continued, "Cid struck a bargain with Ultimecia. He promised to follow certain instructions of hers, and in return, she'd see that he got all the wealth and power he could want."
"What instructions?" Selphie pressed.
"Well, that ties into the 'new ideas' that Cid presented to Odine. It seems Cid came up with a comprehensive plan for crafting soldiers, using para-magic, hypnosis, memory obliteration, indoctrination, isolation, you name it. Everything but drug therapy. He never got a chance to test his plan out, since all research efforts were quickly focused on the Crystal Pillar."
"But Cid didn't give up on his plan, did he?" Seifer said, giving voice to their collective fear.
"No," she replied, her voice little more than a whisper. "And for that, he founded SeeD. Ultimecia's the one who helped him get off the ground. She told Cid to track down NORG for funding, knowing that NORG's greed would get the better of him."
"So what about the deal?" came the question from Irvine.
"Ultimecia provides Cid with the means to start SeeD, which will keep Cid comfortable for life. In return, Cid had to provide Ultimecia with a Sorceress's body, a way to manifest in our time..."
"Matron..." Zell whispered.
"There's more. Cid had to raise a certain group of children, as gifts to Ultimecia. Those children would grow up to be the leaders of SeeD. They... we... were to take SeeD on a rampage to make the world over in Ultimecia's image. But things went... awry. "
"I'll say!" Selphie chirped. "We kicked her butt!"
Quistis went on, "From Cid's journal, when we were at the orphanage.
"'The last of the children arrived today. The last of Ultimecia's offerings. When she arrived, it felt like a key turning in a lock. I could feel the energy flowing around them. They, of course, are oblivious to it. Edea senses their power, but has no idea that three years from today, I'll enact the ritual to bring Ultimecia into this world.
"'With the arrival of this last child, I know what each of their roles will be.
"'Young Selphie shows a precocious talent for getting into places she doesn't belong. She has a bright future in espionage.
"'Zell has the heart of a mighty warrior, hidden within the blubbering façade of a crybaby. Given enough pain, he'll live up to his potential.'"
The sound of Zell's knuckles cracking as he gritted his teeth in rage penetrated the otherwise quiet room. He and Seifer exchanged a long look.
"'Irvine has already proven his aim. He almost never misses a throw, no matter what sport the children are playing. He'll be a valuable sniper.
"'Quistis will be the mind of the group. She has an eidetic memory, and is already starting to learn several languages.'
"'The brilliance of my plan rests in the rivalry of the two remaining boys, Seifer and Squall. One has in him the potential to be a great leader, even if he doesn't realize it yet. I'll train him to be a fierce fighter, utterly without compare. He'll receive the full benefit of my indoctrination program, and become the perfect warrior.
"'The other, I shall raise in his shadow. He'll always struggle to prove himself the best, and never succeed. He'll be the antagonist, the constant thorn. He'll be the stone with which I sharpen the sword of the leader. And when I am done, I'll cast Squall aside, and Seifer will lead us all to wealth and power."